
aass__3_.FAM 
Book JsJ B h 



I 



PHRENOLOGY 



BEING 



A BRIEF REVIEW OF 



DOCTOR BRIGHAM'S LATE WORK, 



ENTITLED 

'OBSERVATIONS ON THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGION 
UPON THE HEALTH AND PHYSICAL WELFARE OF 
MANKIND." 



SB'S* TB&.'WW) M3HEHIE)irinEI HtfBHg]E a Mo H2>c 

OF NEW-YORK. " 



" There seemeth to be a superfluity of books — but, shall no more be made I 
Yea! make more good books— which, like the serpent of Moses, may devour 
the serpents of the enchanters." — Lord Bacon. 



NFW-YORE: 
HOWE & BATES, 76 CHATHAM-STREET. 

1836. 



4> 



$;* 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1836, by David 
Meredith Reese, M. D., in the Clerk's Office of the District Court 
of the Southern District of New- York. 



CLAf*rbri & 3uc:LiiiGt:a.ii:, HRfBt'Atf, 
No. 9 Thames-street. 



TO 



THOMAS SEWALL, M. D-, 



PROFESSOR OF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY IN THE 
COLUMBIAN COLLEGE OF WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Dear Sir — 

Your well known hostility to the whole Phreno- 
logical fabric — because of your well founded apprehen- 
sions of its deplorable moral influence — as well as the 
profound esteem and respect I have always entertained 
for your personal and professional character, have 
emboldened me in the dedication of this humble effort 
to you. 

Accept, Sir, this small token of my affectionate 
regard and friendship. 

DAVID MEREDITH REESE, M. D. 

New -York, October 1st, 1836, 



PREFACE. 



The author of the following pages, having more than once had 
occasion to appear before the public in the unenviable character 
of a polemick, had become weary of controversy. With increas- 
ing years, he had thought to have shielded the sword of wordy 
conflict in its peaceful scabbard, and whether he had become 
wiser or not, he verily thought to have " learned war no more." 
In this pacific purpose he found no small share of self compla- 
cency, and was already employing his leisure hours in the quiet 
avocations of reading and study, preparatory to the completion of 
some literary efforts, which have been long contemplated, and 
still lie unfinished upon his escritoir, among the few manuscripts 
which his time and opportunities have allowed him to begin, with 
no other result than to " report progress." 

After such a resolution to retreat from the din of polemical 
strife, some explanation of the motives for his suddenly emerging 
from his obscurity is due to his friends, to whom his purpose had 
been communicated, and who will be surprised, and some of them, 
perhaps, grieved, that he should so soon buckle on his armour. 
To such he will only need to say, that the work of Dr. Brigham 
had not then appeared, which has called forth this reply, nor was 
it until a short time since, that it came under his notice. His at- 
tention was first directed to it, by a distinguished literary friend, 
in the city of Washington, who, in a letter referring to the work, 
earnestly urged the importance of an early antidote to the moral 
poison it contained, and made an appeal to the author, for a prompt 
attempt to repel this assault upon both medical and theological 
truth, and to refute the heresies it contains against science, as well 
as religion. This appeal was rendered irresistible, by the im- 
portunity of other judicious friends, who overcame all scruples 
against farther controversial writing, by alleging that the minds 
of the young and rising generation would readily imbibe the 
prejudices against religion which Dr. B.'s book is so obviously 
calculated to inculcate, coming as it purports to do, from a regu- 



O PREFACE. 

larly educated physician, and shielded from suspicion by the pre- 
text of being dictated by philosophy and science, and under the 
imposing guise of a " profound respect" for religion itself. And 
they still further urged the writer to this unwelcome service, by 
the consideration that the character of the work was such, embra- 
cing the subjects of health and disease, and especially by reason 
of the observations on insanity, that none but a physician could 
be appropriately expected to reply to it. Constrained to concur 
with them in the opinion that the book imperiously called for an 
answer, the author has yielded to their judgment, rather than his 
own, in becoming the writer of the following pages, but not until 
he had waited several months in vain, in the hope that another 
would undertake it. 

Ever aware of the imperfections of his wisdom and piety, and 
peculiarly sensible of his liability to an excess of zeal, and occa- 
sionally to a degree of causticity in manner and style, the author, 
while he regrets this torrid temperament, which may be ascribed 
to his physical and phrenological " organization," can offer no 
apology for " calling things by their right names." Towards the 
author under review, he is conscious of no sentiment inconsis- 
tent with " the law of love ;" but with the book which bears his 
name, he has no fellowship, and he is free to avow that he con- 
temns and even abhors the errors on which he has animadverted, 
and he " loves to abhor them." He has no kindred affiliation 
with the sentiment, that because a man is a professor of the reli- 
gion which inculcates " love to all men," that he is, therefore, to 
" suffer sin in his neighbor" without uttering reproof; or to " pro- 
phecy smooth things," when the " citadel of this world's hopes, 
the sacred edifice of our holy religion," is approached by the 
brand of an incendiary, even though he should be "transformed 
into an angel of light," or attempt the deed of darkness under 
the specious guise of philosophy, or " science, falsely so called." 
In humble imitation of an apostle, he would " withstand him to 
the face, because he is to be be blamed ;" yet, in doing so with 
the plainness of speech, and just indignation which the cause of 
truth demands, he trusts he has not betrayed a spirit of vindic- 
tiveness, or unbecoming censoriousness. If it shall so appear to 
any friend of the truth, it will be a subject of regret, and to none 
more sincerely than to himself, since it would grieve him to find 
that the infirmity of the writer should thus deteriorate from the 



PREFACE. 7 

usefulness of his effort. He can, therefore, only say to the reader 
as his apology for imperfections either in matter or manner, that 
the reason why the task has not beenbetter performed, is for want 
of an abler hand, a wiser head, and a better heart. That it has 
not been earlier published, is wholly owing to the incessant avo- 
cations which other and imperative duties have imposed, by 
which he has been deprived of those hours of leisure which he 
would gladly have devoted to the work, and by which he has been 
constrained to prepare detached parts at intervals, sometimes of 
weeks together, and to write chiefly during those few hours which 
a laborious profession render needful for repose. 

Having written the whole under these disadvantages, the author 
can scarcely say that he is himself satisfied with the manner of 
the performance ; nor can he hope to escape the ban of reproba- 
tion from that class of critics, who make a man "an offender for 
a word." As, however, he does not write for reputation, nor yet 
for money, in the present case, but wholly for the purpose to ex- 
pose error and vindicate truth, irrespective of any minor or per- 
sonal consideration, he will be content to bear with what grace he 
may, the condemnatory sentence of such as demand perfect 
symmetry of elocution in every page of an original work. He 
" could not meet their requisitions if he would," and, in sober 
verity, he may add, he " would not if he could." To have his 
sentences stereotyped into conformity with their archetype, 
would afflict him as grievously as to distort his own limbs, and 
limit his locomotion by a straight jacket. 

In respect to the views he expresses of Phrenology, and the 
disrespect with which he treats that " science," the author deems 
it proper to inform the reader, that his own opinions on that sub- 
ject have recently undergone an entire revolution. Attracted by 
the learning and labors of Gall, and admiring the genius and un- 
tiring industry of Spurzheim, with many others he had hailed 
phrenology as a science, and even partially invested craniology 
itself with the merits of a philosophical system. It was, how- 
ever, with anatomical views entirely that he had looked upon the 
subject with favor, and he had not been led to investigate its mo- 
ral aspect or tendency until recently. He had regarded the 
light which phrenologists claimed to have thrown upon the struc- 
ture and functions of the brain, as calculated to contribute to the 
business of education, to aid in some questions of medical juris- 



8 PREFACE. 

prudence, and to facilitate the curative management of certain 
obscure diseases of the head. Thus far he was disposed to look 
into phrenology, and though aware of the crude and imperfect 
condition of its doctrines, and the arbitrary character of many of 
its dogmas, still he hoped that as it should be studied and impro- 
ved, valuable contributions to our stock of knowledge might be 
the result. An expression of these views, has identified him 
nominally with one or more phrenological societies, abroad as 
well as at home ; and he had consented thereto, that he might 
learn whatever truth might be discovered, which could be useful 
in his profession. His relation, however, was purely nominal, 
for he never found either leisure or inclination to attend a meeting 
on the subject, nor ever thought it needful even to acknowledge in 
any way, the compliment conferred by those phrenological socie- 
ties who have elected him a corresponding member. 

Some months since, however, he was led to consider the subject 
for the first time, in its moral aspect, with the view of writing a 
paper, which he had been invited to prepare for one of the " re- 
views," vindicating Phrenology from the charge alleged by its 
enemies, that it " savoured of materialism. " Having thus been 
constrained to look into Gall, Spurzheim, and others, with this 
object in view, and thus brought to study books, into which before 
he had only glanced by occasional reference, he was surprised to 
find that all the evidence these works afforded was just that which 
he did not want, and which until now, though often rallied on 
the subject, he had not believed. He was, therefore, obliged to 
decline preparing the proposed paper, and resolved to leave the 
vindication of phrenology to others. Indeed, he then resolved to 
abstain from the subject wholly, until it could be vindicated by 
somebody, or until he could cultivate it in works written by other 
than infidels. 

Soon after this resolution was formed, it was confirmed by the 
following circumstance. A friend of the author, himself a phre- 
nologist, confessed that his religious convictions had been shaken, 
and a most hazardous and deplorable species of scepticism had 
supervened. Being somewhat shocked at this unexpected dis- 
closure, and led to remonstrate against what was truly regarded 
as a calamity, it was soon manifested by unequivocal evidence, 
that a somewhat ardent cultivation of phrenology, was the direct 



PREFACE. y 

and obvious cause. And notwithstanding the writer had become 
fully persuaded of the infidelity of both Gall and Spurzheim, and 
had often seen and heard the charge of materialism brought 
against the science by its enemies, he had never before had the 
subject brought home to his heart. 

Almost simultaneously with this event, the attention of the au- 
thor was directed to the work of Dr. Brigham under notice, and 
the convictions of the nature and tendency of phrenology, to 
which his mind had arrived, he need scarcely say, were greatly 
strengthened by its perusal. That the direct and legitimate ten- 
dency of phrenology and craniology is to neology and essential 
atheism, appeared to be demonstrated in the case of Dr. Brigham 
and his book, and the author felt that the evidence here furnished 
must be irresistible to every candid mind. He has little doubt, 
that multitudes like himself, have been beguiled by the plausible 
aspect of the system, anatomically considered, irrespective of its 
moral tendency. And now that it is exemplified, as in the in- 
stance before us, that the cultivation of this subject leads to coarse 
infidelity and irreligion, it appears to be the dictate of duty that 
all such should abjure their adhesion, or even connivance at the 
subject. And even those who have regarded this species of 
philosophy as a harmless humbug, impotent for good or evil ; a 
mere puerile speculation, which might be innocently indulged by 
children and fools, may discover their error in the light which 
this work throws upon the subject, by its melancholy effect upon 
it9 author. 

As the following pages are designed as a reply to the work of 
Dr. Brigham, though in the form of a review, it has been thought 
necessary to indulge in some degree of amplification on two or 
three important points. The prominence given in Dr. Brigham'g 
book to the "religious sentiment," and upon which ignis fatuus, 
the whole volume is based, has called for a more free and full 
criticism, than it would otherwise be entitled to. And the extent 
of his chapter on " revivals of religion," against which Dr. B. has 
put forth all his strength, together with the importance of the 
subject, has required a more theological examination of that 
topic, than under other circumstances would be expected from a 
medical man, while the unphilosophical and mischievous doc- 
trines in relation to the nature and causes of insanity, with which 



10 PREFACE. 

the " observations" of Dr. B. abound, have seemed to demand a 
somewhat extended notice of this whole subject. The hints 
which are introduced with reference to the management of insane 
persons, although they may be somewhat novel to many, are the 
result of no small share of diligent investigation of the subject, 
and some considerable practical experience in the treatment of 
diseases of the brain. Whether the theory of insanity, and the 
curative agencies deduced therefrom, which are here submitted, 
will meet the favor of his professional brethren or not, the author 
has full confidence that practical men will estimate them for what 
they are worth. He trusts, however, that he has fully succeeded 
in vindicating religion from the charge of being the cause of in- 
sanity, and this is the important point at which he aims ; nor, in 
what he has said on this whole subject, has he introduced a single 
remark which is not designedly tributary to this primary object. 

No one can candidly peruse the observations of Dr. Brigham, 
without becoming lamentably assured, not only that he has fallen 
into the mysticism of infidel philosophy, but it is equally clear 
that his scepticism has been recently acquired, and that he is 
wholly indebted for his present "bad eminence," to his reception 
and cultivation of the science of phrenology. A remnant of the 
" old leaven" still lingers in his mind, and though he has left the 
vantage ground of truth, yet he retains sufficient respect for cer- 
tain correct principles, to prevent his discovering from what a. 
height, and into what a depth he has fallen. Would that he might 
pause, before the last ray of " light that is in him becomes dark* 
ness !" May the writer add, without presumption and without 
offence, would to God that this reply to his book, might be instru- 
mental in discovering to himself the fearful havoc upon his prin- 
ciples which phrenology has wrought, and lead him to escape the 
withering influence which has well nigh overwhelmed his 
soul. 

With such feelings, these pages are committed to the press, and 
the humble hope is indulged, that they maybe useful to the rising 
generation ; and should they " pluck some brand out of the burn- 
ing," or rescue one victim out of the devouring jaws of phreno- 
logy, infidelity, and irreligion, this effort will never prove a source 
of regret, whatever fate may be awarded to 

THE AUTHOR, 



PHRENOLOGY 



KNOWN BY ITS FRUITS. 



" Observations on the Influence of Religion upon the 
Health and Physical Welfare of Mankind. By 

Amariah Brigha?n 9 M. D. Boston : Marsh, 
Capen & Lyon. 1835, 



^ '» 



Such being the title page of the work, which 
has elicited the following pages, the reader will 
perceive that, as its name imports, the book is of 
a compound nature, being professedly both scien- 
tific and religious. It is on this account, that our 
criticisms must necessarily partake of the same 
medico-theological character. And as we have 
chosen the form and style of a review, for conve- 
nience and greater brevity, we must be indulged 
with a series of preliminary observations, without 

2 ' 



14 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

being accused of introducing irrelevant topics, or 
being justly chargeable with circumlocution, 
since the design of this exordium is so obvious. 
We wish to glance at the whole " order" of pseudo- 
religious writers, which includes a diversity of 
" genera and species," with a view that Dr. 
Brigham's book may be classified by the reader 
according to its merits ; and we do this because 
the important bearings of the subjects upon which 
he treats, will not be so apparent, if it be viewed 
abstractly from kindred publications. 

The Divine authority of the Holy Bible, and 
the truth of that system of Religion, denominated 
Christianity, which is therein revealed, have been 
so often demonstrated by the presentation of the 
evidences and proofs which accompany both the 
one and the other, that he who avows his infidelity, 
at the present day, is justly regarded as proclaim- 
ing his deficiency either of candor or intelligence. 
And that such estimate of scepticism on these 
subjects, is neither uncharitable nor unmerited, 
receives confirmation from the well known fact, 
that very many of the most learned and able 
among the enemies of the truth, have embraced 
Christianity, and espoused the cause of the Bible, 
so soon as their intelligence and candor permitted 
a sober examination of these important subjects. 
They had previously rejected the Scriptures, 
without having investigated their merits, and, in 
many instances, without having read the sacred 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 15 

volume ; and their knowledge of our holy religion 
having been derived from the writings and testi- 
monies of its enemies, they were necessarily igno- 
rant of its true nature, and blind alike to its claims 
and its authority. 

These examples have been so numerous in 
every age, that the enemies of the truth have, for 
the most part, despaired of making proselytes, 
except by the art of depreciating or concealing 
the sacred volume; and hence, the propagators 
of every species of false religion, as well as the 
advocates of irreligion, have expended all their 
ingenuity in the effort to extinguish or obscure this 
"lamp of life." Priestcraft, when enlisted in an 
unhallowed conspiracy against the truth, has 
chosen for its motto, the convenient maxim, that 
" ignorance is the mother of devotion," and hence 
labored to close the volume of inspiration from 
vulgar eyes, and claimed the book of God, de- 
signed by Him to be the common property of all, 
as the sole inheritance of their own order — arro- 
gating the exclusive proprietorship both of its 
possession and interpretation. Other enemies 
have more plausibly, yet with equally hostile and 
pernicious designs, corrupted and falsified the 
contents of the "Book of Books," and by new 
and unauthorized translations, forced interpreta- 
tions, and pretended improvements, have grossly 
and wantonly perverted the sacred text, and thus 
conformed the revelation of Jehovah to their own 



16 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

creeds and dogmas. These corrupted Scriptures, 
they liberally consent, may be distributed and 
read by all, and they claim for these the same 
authority as though they had the seal of genuine- 
ness and authenticity which the unadulterated 
"word of God" bears on its front, the impress 
of the Holy Ghost. 

But while such are the devices of those who 
claim to be religionists, and yet are the enemies 
of the truth, there are those who seek, by mis- 
representation of the sacred volume — by denying 
the truth of its chronology — by questioning the 
facts of its history — by declaiming against its 
miracles and mysteries — and by the force of sar- 
casm and ridicule, to cast it into utter contempt 
and abhorrence, and they thus hope to inculcate 
absolute irreligion, and teach men to despise the 
Bible and the God of the Bible. These, however, 
though the most virulent, are nevertheless the 
least dangerous of all the foes of the truth, for 
their very deformity renders them incapable of 
extensive mischief. Every semblance of argu- 
ment which their ablest champions have ever pro- 
duced, and every vestige of their sophistry and 
and false philosophy, have been fully and unan- 
swerably met and refuted, and all their weapons 
have been thus made to recoil upon their own 
heads, by the contributions of those, whose sancti- 
fied learning has been consecrated to the vindica- 
tion of the truth. 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 17 

So signal has been the defeat, so utter the over- 
throw of the mightiest among the ranks of infi- 
delity, during the last and present century, and 
so multiplied are the trophies of victory which en- 
lightened philosophy, and the discoveries of sci- 
ence, have furnished over the enemies of the Chris- 
tian revelation, that few can be found in any 
country, who make pretensions to real learning, 
and yet have the temerity to proclaim themselves 
the advocates of open and avowed infidelity. But 
we are not thence to infer that there is less dispo- 
sition to oppose the truth of God, or that the rejec- 
ters of Divine revelation have abandoned their 
hostility to Christianity. If such inference should 
be drawn, it would be erroneous indeed, since 
facts, deplorable facts, in our own and other coun- 
tries, alas, too visibly demonstrate the con- 
trary. 

The infidelity of the heart, is one of the cha- 
racteristics of fallen human nature, and it often 
lingers here, after it has been driven from the 
head by the force of truth, and clamors most loudly 
when thus imprisoned. Indeed, in this fact, so 
clearly and pathetically taught by the pen of in- 
spiration, and so universally felt and seen in oui 
experience and observation, we have an argumen- 
tum ad homi?iem, in favor of the truth of Divine 
Revelation, which is and must be forever unan- 
swerable ; and it is no marvel that so many have 



18 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

been thus constrained to bow to the majesty of 
truth, upon whom other and even potent means 
had been employed in vain. But alas ! in a mul- 
titude of instances, those who cannot resist the 
external and internal evidences of Christianity, 
as a system, nor gainsay the array of logical and 
learned argumentation with which its enemies 
have been confounded by the wise and good, are 
nevertheless impelled by the infidelity of the 
heart, to enter upon a warfare against some of the 
distinguishing and essential features of the system, 
either singly or together, while disavowing any 
hostility to the system itself. 

These who denominate themselves rational, 
philosophical, or liberal Christians, are by far the 
most dangerous, and most successful opposers of 
the truth. They profess respect, and even reve- 
rence for the Bible, and denominate it Holy ; and 
in all their religious nomenclature, but little vari- 
ation from the ordinary language of orthodoxy can 
be detected by a superficial observer, while they 
nevertheless utterly reject the doctrine of Divine 
inspiration. They speak of " our Savior and 
blessed Lord," though they disbelieve and deny 
his Divinity, holding him to have been either " a 
man, a mere man, a good man, a super-human, an 
angelic, or super-angelic being," or perhaps a 
" greater than Moses, but less than God" They 
even discourse upon the efficacy of his " suffer- 
ings and death," and the " value of his blood," 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIG HAM. 19 

while at the same time they deny his " vicarious 
sacrifice," and reject the scriptural doctrine of 
the " atonement for sin." Such will even dwell 
upon the " evangelical doctrine of regeneration," 
and sanctification, in Scripture language, while in 
their philosophy they wholly reject the doctrine 
of " Divine influence," and believe in a religion 
without spirituality, and will employ their sophis- 
try, and even ridicule, against all claims to expe- 
rimental knowledge of the agency of the Holy 
Ghost — and yet all the while zealously contend 
for liberal Christianity — and so far from avowing 
infidelity, or consenting to be ranked among scep- 
tics and unbelievers, they maintain themselves to 
be true believers, and genuine Christians. In- 
deed many of them discourse logically and learn- 
edly upon the " folly of scepticism, the madness 
and danger of infidelity." 

That there are many such who are self-de- 
ceived, and while claiming to be Christians, really 
believe themselves to be such, may be readily 
admitted, for there are, doubtless, many such who 
possess too much of honor, integrity, and charac- 
ter, to allow the supposition, that they would vo- 
luntarily deceive others, or designedly practise 
imposture. It is not our purpose or province to 
make inquisition of motive, since to assume so 
high a prerogative is alike foreign to our inclina- 
tion and design. But sincerity in error, does not 
transform error into truth ; nor on the presump- 



20 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

tion, if we dare indulge it, that all of this class of 
religionists have been, and are living "in all 
good conscience before God unto this day;' 5 and 
that such have " verily thought they were doing 
God service"— yet even this presumption would 
by no means " change the truth of God into a lie," 
nor in the least diminish the dangerous and mis- 
chievous nature of their errors, especially if those 
errors be fundamental. It is true, if such were 
the fact, and it shall so appear to the Searcher of 
Hearts, their errors may not render them criminal 
in His sight, nor may absolute guilt be predicated 
of their heresy, however great or flagrant ; yet, 
nevertheless, the baneful influence, and pernicious 
tendency of their heretical opinions upon others, 
are not the less to be deprecated by the cause of 
truth. 

Indeed, nothing can be more obvious than that 
while the cardinal and essential features of Chris- 
tianity, and the great and fundamental truths of 
Revelation, are rejected, impugned, or obscured ; 
the more of the semblance of truth such a system 
of error retains, the more it is to be deprecated. 
This is the device of the grand adversary of souls, 
for we read of " false prophets and false Christs, 
who perform many wonders, and deceive, if it 
were possible, the very elect ;" and the apostle 
affirms, that " Satan is transformed into an angel 
of light" to deceive and betray. And by similar 
authority we are distinctly taught, that it is possi- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 21 

ble for men in the world, and in the Christian 
church, to " seem to be religious," and only seem 
to be so, while " deceiving their own hearts ;" for 
11 there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but 
the end thereof are the ways of death." Hence, 
without discussing, much less deciding, the merits 
of this or that species of heresy, we are constrain- 
ed to believe, that error is more mischievous and 
dangerous to the souls of men, when clad in the 
habiliments of truth ; and the more the enemies 
of Christianity assume the resemblance of true 
religion, the more they are to be dreaded and 
avoided. 

The publication of books, emanating from 
known and acknowledged infidels, and professedly 
hostile to the Bible, and the God of the Bible, 
need not occasion apprehensions, or awaken 
anxiety among the friends of Christianity, for the 
truth of God has little to fear from the open as- 
saults of its enemies, as the history of the past 
abundantly proves. Hence, such issues from the 
modern press are exceedingly rare, and for the 
most part do but little mischief, and are soon for- 
gotten. The maxim of the prince of infidels was, 
11 Conceal your march T and thus only have kind- 
red spirits, ever since, found any measure of suc- 
cess. They who have not discovered this feature 
in the tactics of the party, who, in any place, are 
laboring to overthrow Christianity, must, indeed, 
have been careless observers. Infidels know that 



22 REVIEW OF DR. BR1GHAM. 

all history and experience have shown, that an 
avowal of their principles and designs will be ne- 
cessarily fatal to their influence in any commu- 
nity. Hence, hypocrisy, deep, dark, and cruel 
hypocrisy, is indispensable to success in making 
proselytes to any modification which infidelity has 
ever assumed, and he who can most effectually 
" conceal his march," is regarded as the best 
skilled in the science, the most valuable advocate 
of their cause. 

These remarks are designed to direct the reader 
to the fact, that we are not to look for the enemies 
of the truth, who are the most dangerous and 
mischievous, in the army of atheists, deists, and 
sceptics, who proclaim their own folly, and glory 
in their shame. There are many such, who with 
their " colors flying," impiously mouth the hea- 
vens with their blasphemies against the Bible, and 
the God of the Bible, "and openly celebrate their 
orgies under circumstances of enormity, and with 
deeds of guilt and infamy, " enough to make the 
cheek of darkness pale!" These depraved and 
fallen spirits are, however, among the most im- 
potent of all the foes of truth and virtue, since 
the naked deformities of their principles and prac- 
tice disgust by their very loathsomeness. 

Neither are the forms of infidelity, denominated 
Atheism and Deism, to be regarded as the most 
corrupting and dangerous to the virtue of the 
community, since the rising generation are, for 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 23 

die most part, protected from these extremes, by 
that instinctive horror, which is happily the result 
of almost any share of Christian education. Even 
when we find such unbelievers, as is sometimes 
the case, without those hideous enormities upon 
morals and virtue, by which others of the party 
are distinguished, still the denial of the existence 
of God, and the utter rejection of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, is a "great gulf," into which no man steps 
at a single stride. 

But while the transition from an historical faith 
in the truth of Christianity, to an open avowal of 
dark and cheerless infidelity is so great that no 
man suddenly makes it ; and while there is truly 
a " great gulf' 1 between those two distant points, 
yet there are a number of steps which imper- 
ceptibly but surely lead across and downward 
from the vantage ground of truth, into fatal and 
ruinous heresy. All who have been converted to 
infidelity have been led by these steps, most of 
them unconsciously ; for had they known whither 
they were bound before they were shrouded in 
the bewildering mazes of scepticism, shuddering 
at the enormities to which custom has now re- 
conciled them, they had torn themselves away 
from the snare. The enchantment of " free 
inquiry," the bait of "knowledge," the charms 
of " metaphysics," the witchery of vain "phi- 
losophy" the mysticism of " phrenology and cra- 
niology," or some other of the " golden balls" 



24 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

thrown in their way, have led them successively to 
hesitate, to speculate, to doubt, to ridicule, and to 
scoff. Or, what is more probably and more fre- 
quently the case, they have become spell-bound in 
the gaudy decorations operational Christianity," or 
" natural religion," or perhaps the " liberals " and 
" utilitarians " of the day, have entangled them in 
the net of subtlety and mysticism, which they so in- 
geniously and adroitly weave for themselves and 
others. Thus led to doubt, and prepared even 
for the denial of the great essentials of Christiani- 
ty, ingeniously made to appear " irrational, unphi- 
losophical, or illiberal," and taught to try inspi- 
ration at the bar of their own reason, and measure 
Almighty wisdom by the standard of the human 
intellect, the rejection of the truth of God, and the 
substitution of the dogmas of men, becomes both 
natural and easy. Hence, when the minds of 
men are by such discipline and mental training 
led away from the truth distinctively, they are 
like a " wave of the sea driven by the winds and 
lost." All, all becomes mystery and uncertainty 
when the darkness of their mental vision "obscures 
the pole, rejects the compass, disdains the chart," 
and, like the maniac crew of the phantom ship, 
they and their " rational philosophy," are soon lost 
in the ocean, and a fatal moral shipwreck closes 
the terrific scene. 

Error, like vice, is rapidly progressive ; " its 
march is ever onward, and its tremendous ten- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 25 

dency is to accumulation*" Illustrations of this 
sentiment are seen on every hand, and in no 
instance more visibly than in the history of 
religious defection. All the world have heard 
of the concession of the great Dr. Priestly, who 
said, in reply to an inquiry as to what were his 
present religious views, proposed by one who had 
witnessed and deplored his downward progress, 
after he had once renounced the truth: "Once" 
said he, "I was a Trinitarian, then I became an 
Arian, next a Socinian, but with increasing light, 
I have become a Humanitarian, and though this is 
where I now stand, yet 1 know not where I shall 
be soon !" by which he candidly admitted what his 
experience had proved, that he had no fixed prin- 
ciple of religious belief, no standard of faith at all 
satisfactory or conclusive, even in relation to the 
great fundamental doctrine of the character of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. And in America, one of the 
most distinguished Atheists of modern times, by 
having successively followed the steps of Priestly 
so far as he is admitted to have descended the lad- 
der, has been led to take still other steps down- 
wards : universalism first, then deism in its re- 
finement, and subsequently in its vulgarity ; and 
at present he is a public champion of atheism, in 
all the darkness and blackness of its morals ; and 
lingers on the shores of time, a revolting picture 
of one " treasuring up wrath against the day of 
wrath." 

3 



26 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

Such examples of the downward tendency of 
religious error should teach us the infinite danger 
of being " driven about by every wind of doc- 
trine ;" and as a wrong habit of thinking may be 
readily acquired, and as this will infallibly lead 
to a wrong habit of acting, equally impercepti- 
ble in its approach and difficult to conquer, when 
once acquired, the } r oung and rising generation 
should be scrupulously guarded and protected 
from those "evil communications which corrupt 
good manners" and good morals too. Erroneous 
opinions will necessarily result in erroneous prac- 
tice, correspondent to the measure of error those 
opinions embrace ; and as the liberty of the press, 
which is our glorious inheritance, by its licentious 
abuse, affords such infinite facilities for the pro- 
pagation of erroneous opinions, it is important to 
the well-being of the community, and essential to 
the public safety, that every modification of re- 
ligious error emanating from the ever prolific 
press, should be promptly followed by an appro- 
priate antidote. For unless the friends of truth, 
of virtue, and religion, exercise the utmost vigi- 
lance over the current literature of the day, the 
fountains of popular knowledge may be poisoned 
with the corrupting leaven of infidelity and irreli- 
ligion. And if this can be done to the extent 
which the open and secret enemies of Christianity 
are laboring to effect, the nation and the world 
will feel the withering influence of the unhallowed 
deed. 



REVIEW OF PR. BRIGHAM. 27 

The maxim, that " error of opinion may be to- 
lerated, while reason is left free to combat it," 
imposes by its very justice, a solemn and im- 
perious obligation upon the friends of truth to re- 
new and perpetuate the employment of " reason" 
in the " combat," co-extensively with the " tole- 
ration." Unless this be done, intolerance itself 
would be a lesser evil than the toleration of error, 
when that error involves the brightest hopes, the 
dearest interests, and the everlasting destinies of 
men. But if the defensive warfare of reason 
against error be diligently and faithfully maintain- 
ed, there never has been, there never need be, one 
anxious apprehension for the result, for " truth is 
mighty, and will prevail." The pulpit and the 
press should never cease to repeat the voice of 
warning against " walking in the counsel of the 
ungodly, or standing in the way of sinners, or sit- 
ting in the seat of the scornful." 

In the exercise of the vigilance which is called 
for in the present aspect of our country especially, 
American patriots and Christians will find that the 
most demoralizing and mischievous publications 
of the day, are those which aim to sap the foun- 
dations of the sacred edifice of Christianity, under 
the garb of pseudo-philanthropy and false philo- 
sophy. Some of these conspirators are professedly 
very religious, and kindly propose to improve upon 
the " oracles of God," simplify the doctrines and 
duties taught us by inspiration, and conform the 



28 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

Christian system throughout, to the present ad- 
vanced age of light, and refinement, and educa- 
tion. They seem to allege, that the instructions 
of Christ and his apostles, though highly valuable 
and useful in times of comparative ignorance and 
barbarism, are altogether too antiquated for the 
present improved and elevated intellectual con- 
dition of our species, and hence their philanthropy 
and philosophy alike prompt them to innovate 
and reform. They honor and approve of the 
Christian religion, and are only laboring to purify 
it of all exceptionable features, and make it what 
it ought to be, a very paragon of perfection. We 
are not, therefore, by any means to rank them 
among the enemies of the truth, for they are 
the friends and advocates for the system, and only 
wish to refine it, and benevolently bring their 
philosophy to this desirable and plausible work. 
That an extensive and simultaneous combina- 
tion now exists, both in Europe and America, for 
the purpose of subverting Christianity, and over- 
throwing the truth of God, needs no other evidence 
than the fact every where visible, of the employ- 
ment of the public press, for the alleged purpose of 
improving the doctrines of our holy religion, and 
perfecting what inspiration has pronounced already 
" perfect." The Bible is not only complained of 
as erroneous and defective, but it has been pro- 
nounced so exceptionable in many of its parts, 
that new versions are projected and absolutely 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 29 

making, and this too not by enemies, but friends 
of the Bible, who benevolently desire to amend 
" the words of God," out of pure friendship 
for His truth. Books and pamphlets, without 
number, are deluging the land, written by pro- 
fessed Christians too, for the purpose of correct- 
ing errors in the theology and ethics, which the 
world of scholars and divines have learned from 
the bible, but must be now abandoned and 
abjured, because, as they tell us, enlightened 
philosophy, and improving science, render them 
no longer worthy of veneration. And such are 
the multiplied and multifarious improvements 
which have been proposed and recommended for 
the sacred edifice of Christianity, by the learned 
men of our own and foreign countries, sustained 
by an ostentatious exhibition of Hebrew, Chaldaic, 
Greek, and Anglo-Saxon learning, that if all of 
them could be embodied together, instead of an 
harmonious system of symmetrical proportions, 
worthy of its Divine Author, their Christianity 
would be a type of old chaos, more confounding 
than the confusion of tongues at the building of 
Babel, more bewildering than the mazes of infi- 
delity itself. 

Perhaps no one event among the novel disco- 
veries of modern times, is more plausible, subtle, 
and dangerous, than the introduction of the 
science of phrenology. Introduced to the world 
by truly learned and deservedly eminent men, pro- 

3* 



30 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

fessing to be based upon the Baconian philosophy 
of induction, claiming the discovery of a multi- 
tude of new and important facts, which are cal- 
culated to enlighten mankind upon the abstruse 
philosophy of mind, and arrayed in all the attrac- 
tions which genius, eloquence, and literature, 
combine to furnish, it is not to be wondered at, 
that a system thus fortified, should resist the as- 
saults of dogmatism and the sneers of ridicule, 
which have been for the most part the only 
weapons employed against it. Hence the be- 
lievers in the doctrines of phrenology have become 
a great multitude, which no man can number, 
although there are still comparatively few who 
have studied the science, and a still smaller 
number who have sufficiently cultivated it to 
become fully acquainted with its nature and ten- 
dencies. It is only very lately, that in this coun- 
tr} r , the subject has gained the public attention, 
and the immensely deleterious and demoralizing 
influence it is calculated to exert upon the public 
mind and character, is not yet discerned, or ap- 
preciated. 

The truth is, it ought to be known and felt, 
that phrenology is not that indifferent subject 
of speculation, which may be regarded utterly 
impotent for good or ill, as it has been viewed by 
many ; nor is it that insignificant and contemptible 
conceit, which can be annihilated by laughter, or 
the sneer of sarcasm. It has assumed the form 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 31 

of science, the name of philosophy, and has 
gained upon public credulity, and secured the 
allegiance of many wise and good men, who have 
overlooked its moral aspect, or misapprehended 
its tendency and bearing in relation to the sacred 
edifice of Christianity. However ingeniously the 
hook of infidelity has been baited by Gall, and 
gilded by Spurzheim, and however adroitly other 
advocates of the science may attempt its vindica- 
tion, the true character and tendency, if not the 
original design of this whole phrenological and 
craniological system, is by recent events becom- 
ing disclosed. And this exposure, philanthropists 
and Christians are imperiously called upon to 
make known by early and combined exertions, so 
that our country and the world may be protected 
from the mischiefs which the prevalence of this 
moral heresy may otherwise inflict. 

We need not detain the reader, even by alluding 
to the numerous examples and forms in which 
modern writers, and particularly phrenologists 
and physicians, are attempting to enlighten the 
public, upon the subject of Christianity, while 
their works betray either absolute ignorance of 
their chosen theme, or the secret, though deadly 
hostility they bear to its distinctive characteris- 
tics. It will be sufficient for our purpose to select 
one of this class, by no means the most attractive 
or able, yet calculated by its plausibility and guile, 
to mislead the unwary, and under the mask of 



32 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

religion and science, to inculcate both irreligion 
and barbarism. And we make the selection 
moreover, mainly because it is an example of 
what false philosophy, such as phrenology is pro- 
pagating, has both the disposition and the power 
to effect. 

The work to which we refer, is entitled, " Ob- 
servations on the Influence of Religion upon the Health 
and Physical Welfare of Mankind, by Amariah 
Brigham, M. D." It was published at Boston 
during the last year, and the author is a respect- 
able physician of Hartford, Conn. He had become 
known to the public by a smaller volume on " the 
Influence of Mental Cultivation and Mental Ex- 
citement upon Health," published a short time 
before. In that earlier effort of his mind, with a 
great deal of good sense, and sound practical 
truth upon the subject of physical education, there 
is much false philosophy and perverted phrenolo- 
gy, giving evidence that the author is more fami- 
liar with Gall and Spurzheim than with the book 
of nature, and demonstrating that he has more re- 
verence for their productions, than he has for the 
Bible. By what he calls the " freedom and inde- 
pendence" of his remarks upon the " mental ex- 
citement occasioned by the number of churches, re- 
ligious meetings, and Sunday schools," alleging these 
among the causes tending to produce insanity, by 
promoting " excessive action of the brain /" he 
had broadly intimated what were his opinions on 



REVIEW OF DR. BR1GHAM. 33 

these subjects, and what would be his ulterior de- 
sign, should he deem it practicable or expedient 
to prosecute it farther. Indeed, there was so much 
in that volume indicative of the scepticism of the 
author's mind, that it required little discernment 
to discover that its publication was but the pioneer 
of a still farther " developement," of less equivo- 
cal character. Hence, those who read that book 
were not surprised to learn that the doctor had is- 
sued another work ; nor were they at a loss to 
predict its true character, especially when its title 
avowed, that " Religion, and its Influence upon 
Health," was to be the subject of his " observa- 
tions." In short, the former book prepared the 
way for the latter, and this has fully confirmed 
the forebodings of those who had anticipated its 
dangerous and mischievous tendency. 

As a medical man, it is certainly within the 
author's legitimate province, to enlighten his fel- 
low-citizens and the world upon the subject of the 
public health. As one of its guardians, his obliga- 
tions to society, by virtue of this relation, are com- 
mensurate with his ability, and so far as acquaint- 
ance with his profession qualifies him for this task, 
we are not inclined to question his pretensions. 
Indeed, with the author we have no quarrel, since 
he is known to us only through his writings, and 
from these we judge him to be a man of intelli- 
gence and education, possessing a mind cultivated 
by reading and travel ; of ardent temperament, a 



34 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

vivid imagination, and no small boldness and 
originality of thought, and but for his ultra phreno- 
logical views, by which bis mind has been bewil- 
dered, we should suppose him to be capable of 
high intellectual effort, if he had been trained 
under better auspices. 

Having formed this estimate of Dr. B., from all 
the data in our power, we cannot possibly feel to- 
ward him, personally, any other than amicable 
and respectful sentiments. Yet, without impeach- 
ing either his intelligence or integrity, much less 
impugning his motives, which are beyond our 
scrutiny, it is with his book which we have to 
do, and as this is public property, neither he nor 
his admirers have any just ground of complaint, 
that we should frankly aver, that while our 
" health" might be safely entrusted to his profes- 
sional skill, we could not consent to commit our 
" Religion" to his keeping. 

Indeed he allows in his preface, that he lacks 
both " learning and leisure," for the important 
and extensive subject of which he treats, and pro- 
fesses to have been urged to undertake it under 
these disadvantages, by its " practical utility," 
and the dearth of information on this topic. But 
though he gives evidence in his book of his lack 
in these respects, yet a much greater deficiency 
is still more apparent. His " learning and lei- 
sure," however limited, are, doubtless, fully ade- 
quate to the investigation of " anatomy and phy- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 35 

siology," and the whole science of health; but 
neither of these, in any measure, qualifies him for 
the full and proper elucidation of the sublime sci- 
ence of Religion ; and in his case it would seem 
that by perverted views of physical science, his 
learning, or rather want of learning, has become 
an absolute disqualification, of which however we 
may again have occasion to remark. 

In bespeaking the favor of the reader, in his 
preface, he begs him to " study the New Testa- 
ment, free from all preconceived opinions, as if it 
was a work but just issued from the press /" He 
might with as much propriety have reversed bis 
petition, and desired that his book might be read, 
" as if it was a work," written many centuries 
ago, by " holy men," who " wrote as they were 
moved by the Holy Ghost." A compliance on 
the part of the reader would not at all be render- 
ed more difficult by this change in the order of 
priority, though the one and the other are alike 
impracticable and absurd. If he mean that his 
book should be read beside the New Testament, 
and a relative comparison instituted upon their 
merits, as though coeteris paribus, a Christian would 
decide that such a request indicates a degree of 
impiety, little short of blasphemy. Does he claim 
the same authority for the sentiments he incul- 
cates, as the inspired volume demands ? And 
does he himself read the New Testament with no 
more of reverence and veneration, than he feels 



36 REVIEW OF RD. BRIGHAM. 

for his own lucubrations ? Then is he absolutely 
disqualified for estimating that sacred book, where- 
in is revealed " Christ crucified, to the Jews a 
stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness ;" 
and were his demand upon his readers at all fea- 
sible, he would inflict upon them a similar dis- 
ability. 

How amazing is the difference between this 
writer, who fails to perceive any distinction be- 
tween " matters of science, and those of piety," 
and the language of a late able and scientific wri- 
ter, in pursuing an analogous inquiry.* He warns 
his reader against allowing his " conjectures, bow- 
ever rational, to disturb his religious convictions," 
and admonishes him " carefully to abstain from 
the error of confounding the deductions of reason 
with the testimony of the inspired writers, nor 
ever to allow any part of the authority, or the se- 
rious and sacred import that attach to the latter, to 
be extended to the former." And he adds, " this 
would indeed be a grave fault, and especially so, 
if on the strength of even the most reasonable 
theory, we are led to bring into question a particle 
of that which the text of Scripture, duly interpre- 
ted, requires us to believe. Hence we should hold 
every thing light and fallacious which countervails, 
or which will not readily consist with the sure 
words of Christ and his apostles." 

* " Physical theory of another life." 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 37 

No one, on comparing these sentiments with 
those of Dr. B., can fail to decide, that their author 
writes like a Christian who believes in the high 
and paramount authority of revelation, and desires 
his reader to discard both him and his speculations 
when they conflict with the standard of infallible 
truth. Not so, however, with the work before 
us ; for we are here directed to place the New 
Testament and this book on a perfect parity ; to 
read them both as if " just issued from the press," 
and thus force an analogy where there is no pa- 
rallel, 

But he next assures us, in this same preface, 
that he " entertains a profound respect for the reli- 
gious sentiment, notwithstanding the absurd forms, 
ceremonies and customs with which it has been 
connected, and he hopes to render it more 'produc- 
tive of good by exhibiting the evils which some of 
these ceremonies and customs have caused man- 
kind, and which will continue to afflict them unless 
they are abandoned." 

And now let the reader inquire what is this " re- 
ligious sentiment " for which the author " enter- 
tertains profound respect," and he will learn that 
it is a something " innate in man" — an " indestruc- 
tible sentiment" which is " a part of his nature," 
which he illustrates by affirming, that " no race of 
human beings have been known who had not a re- 
ligion and some form of religious worship." We 
are not to suppose then that he feels this "pro- 

4 



38 REVIEW OF DR. ERIGHAM. 

found respect " for Christianity, else we should 
greatly misapprehend his meaning ; for while he 
admits that " the religion of Christ is superior to 
all others in promoting the physical welfare of man- 
kind" yet he regards Christianity only as another 
form or development of the same " religious senti- 
ment, " which is " innate in man," and common 
equally to " the savage and the civilized, 5 ' and ex- 
isting among all the pagan and heathen nations of 
antiquity, as well as those of the present day. This 
* religious sentiment," he affirms, has " impelled 
men and women to sacrifice themselves, their off* 
spring, their dearest kindred, and driven nations into 
the most cruel and destructive wars the world has 
ever witnessed ;" and it is this " most powerful 
sentiment of our nature " for which he " entertains 
profound respect." 

To the existence and universal influence of this 
"religious sentiment" he ascribes all "religious 
worship, and the diversity of its forms ;" and to 
this alone he attributes it that men " adore invisi- 
ble and superior powers ; it impels them to disco- 
ver methods of communicating with them ; to ap- 
pease their anger ; to seek their forgiveness, and to 
obtain their aid and blessing." The inference 
plainly deduced therefrom, is that the recognition 
of the Supreme Deity, and our relation to Him, as 
well as the duty of prayer and religious homage 
which Christianity inculcates, have no other origin 
or authority than this " innate, universal and inde- 






REVIEW OF BR. BRIGHAM. 39 

structible sentiment." And accordingly we find 
him quoting and adopting the language of Dr. 
Gall, the father of modern phrenology, descrip- 
tive of the idolatries of heathenism, in all their 
number and variety, as illustrating and confirm- 
ing his views. 

From such gross forms of religion, which " pow- 
erfully strike the senses," and which the author 
says are the only forms which can benefit " sava- 
ges and barbarians," he attempts to show that the 
pure and spiritual form of Christianity has de- 
scended in regular succession by the cultivation 
and improvement of the " religious sentiment, " in 
the ratio in which mankind have improved and 
progressed in knowledge. Hence, he says, the 
religion of the Hebrews was adapted to their in- 
telligence, and, for a time, was undoubtedly the 
best for them ; and as mankind, at the period of 
Christ, had still farther "progressed in knowledge," 
Christianity was substituted for the law or religion 
of Moses, which was not now sufficiently pure, spi- 
ritual and ennobling for the times. In the present 
" improved condition of mankind" in knowledge, 
we must not therefore be shocked at the proposi- 
tion, that Christianity should be considered super- 
annuate, and be substituted by the improved reli- 
gion of Dr. Brigham. 

The reader is probably aware, that the phrase 
" religious sentiment," and the doctrines here ad- 
vanced in its explanation and defence, are purely 



40 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

phrenological. Dr. Gall, the father of the sys- 
tem, and Dr. Spurzheim, his pupil, and the elo- 
quent advocate of the doctrine, divide the human 
brain into thirty-five, or more, compartments, to 
each of which they ascribe certain propensities, sen- 
timents, and intellectual faculties. The " religious 
sentiment" on which the author before us builds his 
theory and his book, is that bump or prominence 
on the top of the head, which Dr. Gall denominates 
the " organ of theosophy," and is called by Spurz- 
heim the " organ of veneration." The doctrine 
of the system is, that men have no ideas on any 
subject, but through certain organs in the brain, 
which originate or give birth to them. This organ 
is that which gives man the idea of a God, or at 
least of some superior and invisible powers or 
beings, and prompts to devotion, constituting man 
a worshiping animal. The existence of this 
organ, which is the seat of the '< religious senti- 
ment" phrenologists tell us, proves that religion 
is founded in nature, and they generally agree that 
it has no other origin. This brief explanation will 
serve to show what the author means when he 
speaks of the " religious sentiment ;" and the 
reader will perceive the legitimate tendency of 
such a system. It is not within our province, at 
present, to pursue the subject farther than is neces- 
sary in the examination of the work under notice. 
In order that we may fully discover the claims 
of our author, to the superior station he assumes 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 41 

as a great reformer of the " ignorance, ambition 
and fanaticism," which he affirms have " marred 
the incomparable purity of the Christian religion," 
and " injured the health and physical welfare of 
mankind," it is only necessary to examine the 
brief exhibit of his creed, which is given in the 
" introduction" to his book. The following seems 
to be a summary of the articles of religion, to 
which Dr. Brigham subscribes. 

I. Of God, and the Holy Bible. 

In the language of Dr. Spurzheim, " The Old 
and New Testament attribute very different quali- 
ties to the Supreme Being, — the God of Israel 
was jealous, revengeful and terrible, a God of war ! 
the God of the Christians, on the contrary, is love, 
benevolence and charity" 

II. Of the Religious Sentiment. 

" It is a part of man's nature to believe in gods 
of some kind or other, which arises from the reli- 
gious sentiment which is innate in man, and is the 
most powerful of his sentiments. All religious 
worship, and the diversity of its forms, as well as 
the innumerable objects of adoration result from 
it. From this religious sentiment has successively 
proceeded, human sacrifices, circumcision, emas- 
culation, flagellation, wounding the body by cutting 
instruments, anchylosis of joints, austerities, pe- 
nances, monachism, fasting, the Lord's supper, 

4* 



42 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

baptism, night meetings, camp meetings, protract* 
ed meetings, ringing of bells, and modern revi- 
vals. This innate religions sentiment has led to 
most cruel and destructive wars, bloodshed, muti- 
lating the body, exciting the brain, destroying the 
mind, and producing insanity, murder, and sui- 
cide. This religious sentiment was implanted in 
mankind ry their Creator, and for it Dr. B, en- 
tertains profound respect V* 

III. Of Christianity. 

" Christ imposed no forms of religious worship 
oh men, — he established no ceremonies,' — he gave 
no creed for all to embrace, he did not seek for unity 
in forms of worship, but only to establish uniform 
morality. When a barbarian abolishes of his 
own accord polygamy, the mutilation of the body, 
castes, slavery, tyranny and fanaticism, these abo- 
minations once gone, the barbarian becomes a Chris- 
tian, and be he a follower of Mohammed, he may 
justly call himself a disciple of Jesus. The gos- 
pel is to civilize the world, by building up new 
opinions among heathen nations, but not by de- 
stroying their present creeds /" 

IV. Of Spirituality. 

" The spiritual nature of the Christian religion 
is its tendency to strengthen and exercise the mind 
of man, his moral and intellectual powers. And 
in the phrase, fruits of the spirit, nothing superna- 



REVIEW OF BR. BRIGHAM. 43 

tural is meant, but only the fruits or natural results 
of the mind of man, for God has no supernatural 
dealings with men /" 

These four articles of religion are expressed as 
nearly as possible in the precise language of the 
author, and the intelligent and candid reader will 
be constrained to confess, that he is in no respect 
misrepresented. And although other articles, 
equally startling, might easily be prepared from 
the materials contained in the ''introduction" to 
his book, yet we forbear, as these are amply suf- 
ficient for our purpose. They will serve to show 
the qualifications of the author to the office he as- 
sumes, of being a censor morum in religious things, 
and explain the nature'of that " calm, simple and 
pure manner of worship recommended by our 
Savior," which the author proposes to restore, as 
well as that " religious sentiment," for which be 
" entertains profound respect !" 

Nothing can be more manifest than that the 
Doctor's creed is a virtual denial of the Bible, 
and a rejection of the Christianity inculcated in 
that sacred book ; and that any disciple of ration- 
alism, any deist, or any atheist in the land might 
consistently adopt it in gross and in detail. The 
God of whom he speaks, is evidently none other 
than a figure of speech, a mere rhetorical flourish. 
His Christ, of whom he says so many favorable 
things, compared with other early reformers, 



44 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

seems to be only a metonyme or personification* 
of truth, love, charity, self-denial, &c*, virtues 
which he says men ought to be taught to worship ; 
or at most he can be regarded only as another 
"human sacrifice," prompted by the innate u reli- 
gious sentiment," impelling men to " appease the 
anger and seek the forgiveness of invisible and 
superior powers," for all nations " believe in gods 
of some kind or other." And as to the " religious 
sentiment" itself, the author means no more than 
that wherever he is found, "man is a worship- 
ing animal;" — while his definition of spirituality 
would suit the atmosphere of materialism, and 
is sufficiently sublimated for that of any shade of 
infidelity or irreligion. Indeed, throughout the 
whole volume, there is scarcely a single sentiment 
advanced, or even an opinion which a man could 
not safely adopt, while avowing himself an enemy 
of Christianity, or saying in his heart, and with 
his tongue, "there is no God." And it is truly 
painful to add, that much of the caricature and 
ribaldry with which Christianity, and its profes- 
sors are treated in parts of this book, would com- 
pare with the vulgarity of Tom Paine, or the still 
more loathsome profanity of Fanny Wright. See 
pages 63, 224, 276, 284, 321, 328, &c. 

But we are constrained to add another and still 
more serious disqualification to that implied in the 
infidelity of our author, for it is possible for a man 

* See page 321. 



REVIEW OF DR. BR1GHAM. 45 

to write ably and learnedly upon a subject, in 
which he has no measure of belief or confidence, 
provided he has made himself acquainted with its 
nature. In the present case, however, we have 
an example of a man, a gentleman, a scholar, and 
a physician, undertaking to enlighten the com- 
munity upon a subject, in relation to which he 
betrays, not merely deficient knowledge, but total, 
absolute ignorance. We are aware that this is a 
serious charge, and though the articles of his creed 
amply sustain the allegation, that Dr. B. is utterly 
ignorant of the nature of religion, yet, for the sa- 
tisfaction of the reader, still farther illustration is 
at hand. 

Let the title of his book, " Influence of religion 
upon the health and physical welfare of mankind," 
be considered in connexion with the whole tenor 
and tendency of the publication. And shall the 
reader, form his estimate of " religion," by the 
" influence" which the author labours to attribute 
to it? What then is its " influence" upon the 
health and physical welfare of mankind ? If this 
book is to be believed, it is " evil, only evil, and 
that continually." For among the effects of its 
influence," he enumerates almost all " the ills 
that flesh is heir to," such as " mutilation of the 
body, flagellation, injury to the brain and nervous 
system, melancholy, insanity, suicide, and the 
destruction of human beings." And are these the 
effects of the influence of religion ? They are such 



46 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

as this book is designed to exhibit, and none but 
such are here dwelt upon. With such views of 
religion, the title of the book should have been 
essentially different, if its real character was not 
designed to be concealed. It should have been 
" Observations on the influence of religion in pro- 
ducing wars, bloodshed, sickness, insanity, and death. 1 '' 
The reader would then have been prepared for the 
contents of the volume, by reading its name. But 
the author utterly fails in tracing any of the mis- 
chiefs, cruelties, or abominations, he describes, to 
the " influence of religion;" though he ascribes 
them all to the " religious sentiment," for which, 
nevertheless, he " entertains profound respect !" 
because, as he says, it was " implanted in man by 
his Creator!" 

If, however, all this does not fully convict him 
of utter and hopeless ignorance of the true nature 
of religion, let us examine for a moment his pre- 
tensions to a knowledge of the scriptures upon 
which he ventures profound and sapient criticism. 
Speaking of the character of Abraham, the father 
of the faithful, that venerable patriarch, who was 
justly styled " the friend of God!" he says, "In 
Abraham, we do not find that nice and lofty sense 
of veracity, which distinguishes a state of society 
where the point of honor has acquired great in- 
fluence." Now had the author been at all ac- 
quainted with the Bible, he would never have 
hazarded his reputation for intelligence and can- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 47 

dour by such an assertion. Has he overlooked, in 
his history of Abraham, his hospitality to strangers, 
Gen. xviii. ; his generosity to his nephew, ch. 
xiii. ; his uprightness in war, ch. xiv. ; his com- 
passion towards the sinners of Sodom, ch. xviii. ; 
his tenderness towards Hagar and her son, ch. 
xxi. ; and his " nice and lofty sense of justice, po- 
liteness, and honor, in the transaction recorded 
ch. xxiii. It is plain, that the Doctor must regard 
Abraham in the same light as he regards the God 
of Abraham, for of the Great Supreme, he ciffirms, 
that He is both a " God of war, and a God of 
love," which he attempts to sustain by a compa- 
rison of the Old and New Testaments. Estimating 
thus the God of the Bible as a compound of good 
and evil, it is not to be wondered at that he should 
indulge in criminations and censures against His 
faithful servants. 

But his ignorance is still more apparent in the 
remarks on page 17, in relation to the Jews, of 
whom he asserts, en masse, that " they were not 
a people of high moral endowments, and no indi- 
viduals among them of whom we have any account, can 
properly be referred to as examples worthy of all 
imitation. The reader will perceive from this 
single sentence, that the author either measures 
the saints of God by a standard of morality high- 
er than the " law of the Lord," or he must be ig- 
norant of the self-denying spirit of Moses — the dis- 
interestedness of Caleb and Joshua — the spotless 



4S REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

integrity of Samuel and the prophets, and the 
righteousness of Zechariah and Elizabeth, to 
name no other of the Jewish worthies of sacred 
memory, whom he has impugned by his sweep- 
ing denunciation. 

It were easy to show from the " introduction " 
alone, that the author of this book is not only an 
unbeliever in religion, because ignorant of its na- 
ture, but that he is equally ignorant of the nature 
of man. His first sentence reads thus : " The re- 
ligious sentiment appears to be innate in man." 
And is this true ? How does it " appear ? " Has 
a child any idea of religion, or of the being of a 
God, until such idea is implanted by some kind of 
education, or by the Divine Spirit ? Certainly 
not ; no more than he has of inhabited worlds be- 
yond the region of the fixed stars.* But he goes 
still farther, and adds, that this " religious senti- 
ment forms a part of man's nature as truly as be- 
nevolence" Here then he maintains that " bene- 
volence is a part of man's nature. "t But what 

* This, however, is one of the dogmas of phrenology, and the 
organ, the presence of which is indicated by a " bump " on the 
top of the head, is the source whence the " idea of God and reli- 
gion " infallibly emanates. 

t Certainly ; for there is another "bump " on the anterior part of 
the skull, called " moral sense " by Gall, and " benevolence " by 
Spurzheim ; and this organ necessarily generates " benevolence/* 
since it is there for the purpose ; and besides, all phrenologists 
agree that " man is naturally good," for this " organ " is found in 
the heads of all men, though semetimes its quality is overcome by 
opposite sentiments, because of the greater development of "de- 
tructiveness " and the like. 



ftEVIEW OF DR. BR1GHAM. 49 

says the Bible, that book of books ; without a 
knowledge of which, it is presumption either to 
write or speak upon the subject of religion ? An 
inspired apostle, whose knowledge of man's na- 
ture was acquired in " the third heaven," describes 
the moral state of mankind in this and the like 
language: "Haters of God;" "without God;" 
u without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful ;" 
" enmity against God" These and multiplied 
other testimonies of inspiration might be adduced 
to prove the infidelity of the doctrine that either 
"benevolence," " religious sentiment," or " any 
good thing" dwells in man, or is innate in his na- 
ture.* The apostle's melancholy description of the 
natural state of man would fully accord, however, 
with the author's accusations against the " reli- 
gious sentiment " of which he speaks, though the 
reader will hardly be prepared to believe that 
this is " implanted in man by his Creator," nor 
can he fail to marvel that such a "sentiment" 
should still have the author's " profound respect." 
We need only allude to one more instance in 
proof of the author's deplorable ignorance of the 
nature of man ; and for this purpose would refer 
the reader to the strong affirmation he makes in the 
following interrogatory : " Who has not seen the 

* Had he affirmed that "atheism" is innate in man, and consti- 
tutes a part of his nature as much as " selfishness" he would have 
conformed his doctrine to the Bible, however it might have con- 
flicted with phrenology. 

5 



50 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

lascivious man, the drunkard, the reveller become 
chaste and temperate by the exertion of his own 
moral powers ? " This question is proposed in a 
ludicrous argument he attempts to invalidate the 
Scriptural doctrine of the supernatural influence 
of the Spirit in regeneration, which he unequivo- 
cally denies. In answer to his query, we are con- 
strained to assert, and we do so on the authority of 
infallible inspiration too, that no man has seen it, or 
ever will see it. " Can the Ethiopian change his 
skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye do 
good who are accustomed to do evil." This in- 
terrogative form, chosen by the prophet, is the 
strongest possible affirmation of the negative of 
Dr. B.'s position, and is a distinct and unequi- 
vocal declaration, that man cannot " by the exer- 
tion of his own moral powers," effect the revolu- 
tion in his moral nature and habits, which the au- 
thor concedes to result from the religion he gain- 
says and rejects. 

As then it appears plain from the evidences 
thus briefly presented, that the author of the work 
before us, is an unbeliever in the strongest sense 
of that term, however he may be self-deceived ; 
and it being equally evident that he is profoundly 
ignorant of what true religion is, and equally so, 
of the character and nature of man, we think we 
have fully made out our charge, that he is utterly 
disqualified from treating the subject he has had 
the temerity to attempt. He must not complain 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 51 

then at the retribution which will be the reward 
of such rashness and presumption, by reason of 
the exposure of his mistakes and egregious mis- 
representations, which duty to the cause of truth 
imperiously demands. And the reader will be 
prepared to appreciate the degree of credibility 
with which his sentiments and affirmations are 
to be received. Indeed we cannot refrain from 
offering additional testimony, since the same la- 
mentable deficiency of knowledge is discoverable 
on almost every page, and in almost every depart- 
ment of his subject. For example, let the reader 
notice the statement on page 20. " All great re- 
forms in the moral world are the result of long and 
previous instruction of the mass of the people ;" 
whence he argues that no great reform could suc- 
ceed unless the world was prepared for it by 
" previous cultivation of the moral and intellectual 
powers." Here it is obvious that he builds his 
pyramid upon its apex, for the reverse of his pro- 
position is the truth, even in the cases he refers to 
for its proof. Every reformation this world has 
ever seen, has been effected in the face of violent 
and persevering opposition, and in general the op- 
position has been conducted by those of the higher 
classes of society, whose " moral and intellectual 
powers " were arrayed against reform. Witness 
the great reformations resulting from the labors of 
Christ, and Paul, and Luther, and Wesley, and 
Wilberforce, and others. So far from the world 



52 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

having been prepared by "long and previous in- 
struction of the mass of the people," these reform- 
ers have succeeded, although called upon to resist 
the whole torrent of public opinion. And the al- 
lusion he has made to the "temperance reforma- 
tion " in our own country, is singularly unfortu- 
nate for his purpose, and betrays a most deplora- 
ble and inexcusable want of information. He says, 
that the " fiiends of the temperance cause would 
have toiled in vain half a century before," and at- 
tributes their success to the "improved state of so- 
ciety;" intimating that "long and previous instruc- 
tion of the mass of the people" had also preceded 
this reform. But, unhappily for his theory, the 
converse of this statement is notoriously the fact, 
for on the promulgation of the doctrine of total ab- 
stinence by the noble spirits who originated this 
work, the " mass of the people," by reason of their 
"long and previous instruction," were at once in 
battle array against them. And that eminently 
successful philanthropist, the Rev. Dr. Hewitt, 
who is a near neighbor of the author, could fur- 
nish ample reminiscences from the journal of his 
early labors, to annihilate Dr. Brigham and his 
theory. That distinguished champion undertook 
this mighty reform when the pulpit and the press, 
the learning and the ignorance, the theory and the 
practice of the nation, with very rare exceptions, 
in one mighty phalanx reared a formidable bar- 
rier against him. He and his coadjutors, with no 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 53 

other weapon than omnipotent truth, went forth 
to the battle, and beat down every opposition, 
whether " moral or intellectual " which stood in 
their way. They found public opinion wrong; 
they proclaimed it so in tones of thunder ; they 
avowed their purpose to change and reform it ; 
and they have literally " turned the world upside 
down." It was the bad state of society, and not 
its " improved condition" which rendered the re- 
form necessary, and by reason of which it has 
been thus far successful. 

But our author commits himself still more egre- 
giously, for after stoutly maintaining that Boudd- 
hisme has improved Brahmanisme in India, as 
Protestantism has improved Romanism, by render- 
ing it less intolerant and cruel, he affirms that 
Mahomedanismhas improved the "religious senti- 
ment" of the ferocious Arabs, because, as he 
says, the prophet abolished the horrible crimes of 
" robbery, assassination, selling their women as 
slaves, and burying their daughters alive." Now 
had the author acquainted himself with the sub- 
ject before he wrote, he would have known that 
these precise abominations are still perpetrated, 
and perpetuated among the Mahomedans, without 
any evidence of the improvement he names. 

But we forbear to pursue the author in the nu- 
merous blunders he has committed in the " intro- 
duction" to his work, and shall now proceed to re- 
mark upon its contents, in the order they are pre- 

5* 



54 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

sented. His first chapter is on " Human Sacri- 
fices," which he admits are the most deplorable 
of all the effects of the " religious sentiment" 
though they are introduced in illustration of the 
" influence of religion upon the health and physi- 
cal welfare of mankind. 55 The reader will dis 
tinctly perceive, that there is not the remotest par* 
tide of affinity between " religion 55 and this " reli- 
gious sentiment 55 of the author, and yet he uses 
these terms as perfect synonymes. That there is> 
and can be no analogy between them, will appear 
manifest from his own definitions. 

1. " The religious sentiment is innate in man. 55 
Religion is not innate in man. 

2. " The religious sentiment is a part of mau 5 s 

nature. 55 
Religion is no part of man's nature, and is at 
war with fallen nature. 

3. " The religious sentiment prompts men to wor- 

ship gods of some kind or other. 55 
Religion teaches the worship of one living and 
true God, and forbids the worship of any 
other. 

4. " The religious sentiment produces wars and 

bloodshed, and the destruction of human be- 
ings." 

Religion produces peace on earth and good will 
to men. 

A similar contrariety might be exhibited be- 
tween every characteristic ascribed by the au- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 55 

thor to the religious sentiment, and the distinguish- 
ing features of religion, but these are sufficient for 
our purpose, which is to prove, that Dr. Brigham 
has fallen into this fundamental error of identify- 
ing religion and the " religious sentiment;" a 
blunder which necessarily vitiates and nullifies 
his whole performance, since they are, as we 
have shown, not only essentially dissimilar, but 
are antipodal to each other. The effects attri- 
buted by him to the religious sentiment, so far 
from being justly chargeable upon religion, are 
all the result of the absence of religion. This is 
eminently the case with the subject of " human 
sacrifices," which is the theme of his first chap- 
ter ; for these were never authorized or permitted 
by true religion, in any period of the world, and 
their general discontinuance, of which the author 
speaks, is demonstrative evidence against him, 
since this has resulted every where among those 
nations to whom the gospel has communicated the 
light and influence of religion, and they are now 
only continued where religion is not known. 

The author, however, alternately charges hu- 
man sacrifices upon the " religious sentiment," 
and upon religion itself, and this too in the face of 
the testimony he himself presents from the Old 
Testament, demonstrating, that upon these abomi- 
nations the almighty Author of religion denounces 
his heaviest judgments and anathemas. Indeed, 
these very quotations are sufficient to prove that 



56 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

idolatry, which is, and always was, the height of 
irreligion, has been the prolific source of all the 
human sacrifices ever known in the world. These 
cruel abominations, as related by the author, and 
diligently gathered from the pages of history, for 
the purpose, are all of them, without exception, 
examples of worship paid to idols, and imaginary 
gods, who are unknown to religion, and rejected 
by it; however justly they maybe charged upon 
the fiction of the author's brain, which he calls, in 
phrenological language, " the religious sentiment/' 
and which seems uppermost in all his thoughts. 

No farther evidence is desirable to convict him 
of the consummate folly of mistaking religion for 
this religious sentiment, than is found in the fol- 
lowing sentence, p. 34, of his book. 

" It is as idle to talk of a nation without reli- 
gion, as without love of offspring,* or any other 
instinctive propensity!" 



* The "love of offspring," is the fruit of a " bump" or organ 
m the posterior part of the head, called by phrenologists, " phi* 
loprogenitiveness," and is regarded in that philosophy as an " in- 
stinctive propensity" truly. And when cases like those related 
by the author are alleged as objections to the doctrine, that the 
organ of " Destructiveness" should be so developed by organiza- 
tion, as to predominate over " philoprogenitiveness," Dr. Gall 
replies, that this is a proof of " the harmony of the science with 
nature, for man is confessedly an assemblage of contradictions." 
Hence phrenologists repel the charge of inconsistency, by show- 
ing that as is man, so must be the " philosophy of man," a " bundle 
of inconsistencies." It will be seen on page 41, that Dr. B. in 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 57 

Here, then, we are taught that " religion" is 
one " instinctive propensity " and the "love of off- 
spring" is another ; while on the same page, the 
author records as " human sacrifices" impelled by 
religion, that among some heathen nations, pa- 
rents, "knowingly and wilfully, go through the 
bloody work of slaughtering their own children, 
with as little remorse as one would kill a lamb or a 
chicken !" Here, then, one " instinctive propen- 
sity," religion, annihilates the other "instinctive 
propensity," "love of offspring," and changes it 
to the most envenomed hatred of offspring, and 
yet he tells us that this murderous instinctive pro- 
pensity was " implanted in man by his Creator," 
and says, he feels for it " profound respect." Nay, 
he maintains that mankind have been created with 
these dispositions, and he zealously argues, that a 
religion which imposed these absurd and cruel 
rites, and demanded the destruction of millions of 
human beings, as sacrifices to idol gods, is greatly 
preferable to being left without any religion ; and 
he adds to the bloody catalogue he has enumera- 
ted, " I am of opinion that all religions the world 
have ever known have been of use, and they have 



oommon with Spurzheim and other phrenologists, entertains simi- 
lar views of the nature of the Supreme Being, and represents 
Him to be a compound of good and bad propensities, alternately 
developed in the history of the world, and he even appeals to the 
Old and New Testaments for his proofs ! 



58 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

proved injurious only when they have failed to 
keep pace with the progress of intelligence." 

But the author, unwittingly as it would seem, 
not only maintains the identity of the religious 
sentiment with religion, but he regards superstition 
as synonymous with both. This precious confes- 
sion is made on page 35, where he adopts the sen- 
timents of Polybius, in confirmation of the views 
previously alluded to, who declares, that "the re- 
public of Rome was sustained by superstition" 
which he defines to be "the opinions entertained 
by them about their gods," and which, he says, 
was a creed, " contrived for the sake of the popu- 
lace." He adds, " if a society could be formed 
of wise men only, such a scheme would not be ne- 
cessary ; — but since the multitude is always giddy 
and agitated by illicit desires, wild resentments, 
and violent passions, there was no way left of re- 
straining them, but by the help of such secret ter- 
rors and tragical fictions ! It was not, therefore, 
without great prudence and foresight, that the an- 
cients took care to instil into them these notions of 
the gods, and infernal punishments ! which the mo- 
derns are now rashly and absurdly endeavoring 
to extirpate." It is immediately in connexion with 
this language of Polybius that the author observes, 
" I am of opinion that all religions the world has 
ever known have been of use !" thus ranking su- 
perstition, religion, and the religious sentiment, 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 59 

among synonymous terms, and exposing what 
other portions of the volume appear designed to 
conceal, that religion is, in his estimation, a " con- 
trivance for the sake of the populace," useful, it 
is true, though accompanied by " secret terrors 
and tragical fictions." It is true the author claims 
to be a Christian, but infidelity personified could 
desire no more of its willing votary. The Mo- 
saic, no less than the Christian religion, held hu- 
man sacrifices in abhorrence, and though they 
may be justly attributed to the " religious senti- 
ment," which is synonymous with idolatry andir- 
religion, yet religion has ever abjured and prohi- 
bited them. And the destruction of human life, 
to which reference is had by the author, as in the 
case of the innumerable company of martyrs, 
the horrid murders of the inquisition, the 100,000 
executions for witchcraft, and the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew's day, all of which he charges upon 
religion, exhibit either a shocking perversion of his 
intellect, or something infinitely worse. For that 
all these, and even the 30,000 widows annually 
immolated upon the funeral pile of their husbands 
in India, should be included under the significant 
head of the " influence of religion upon the health 
and physical welfare of mankind," is an act of 
impiety, which in a professed Christian is an 
enormity for which we can scarcely find a name. 
In the second chapter the author introduces the 
" religious rites which mutilate the human body," 



60 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

and he enumerates in his catalogue " circumci- 
sion, emasculation, flagellation, wounding the 
body by cutting instruments, and anchylosis of 
joints by religious ceremonies." 

Circumcision, or the sign and seal of the 
Abrahamic covenant, an ordinance of Divine ap- 
pointment is selected as the first topic of his cri- 
ticism, nor does the sacredness of the authority 
by which this custom was introduced, shield it 
from his assault. This is the only rite justly as- 
cribed to religion, for the rest have arisen from the 
absence of religion, or what he calls the religious 
sentiment. Nevertheless, he affirms that this rite 
prevailed before the time of Abraham, for which 
he has no semblance of authority, and he assigns 
physical reasons for its origin, alleging that in 
warm climates this was resorted to for health and 
cleanliness, and thinks it probable that it was not 
at first a religious custom.* That he conflicts 
with the authority of the Bible is not to be won- 
dered at, when he quotes Gibbon, that prince of 
infidels, as paramount authority, who says that 
" health rather than superstition first invented cir- 
cumcision," and by the term superstition, this in- 
fidel writer obviously means the identical "reli- 
gious sentiment," for which the author pleads, so 
that Gibbon contradicts both Dr. Brigham and 
the Bible. It would have been well if one or 

* Why then does he call it a " religious rite ?" 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 61 

both of these sapient critics had accounted for the 
fact, if circumcision prevailed before among sur- 
rounding nations, for physical reasons, why it was 
that on the " self same day" on which the cove- 
nant was made between Abraham and his Maker, 
this ceremony was performed not only upon him- 
self and his son Ishmael, but upon all the men of 
his house. Why was it that Abraham had lived 
to "ninety and nine years" without having con- 
formed to this prevalent custom ; and that his son 
of thirteen years of age, and no one of the men 
in his house had ever been circumcised until that 
day, if " health rather than superstition invented 
it." It is painful to admit the evident truth, that 
both Gibbon and the author have advanced this 
sentiment for the self same reason, that they both 
designed to discredit the inspired history. Of the 
remaining mutilating rites it is only necessary to 
say, that they are all of them the fruits of super- 
stition, or the religious sentiment ; but all of them 
are directly contrary to true religion, and prohibit- 
ed by it. It is idle, therefore, nay more, it is sa- 
crilegious trifling to include these among the effects 
resulting in whole or in part from the " influence 
of religion." 

In the introduction to the third chapter, which 
embraces " austerities, penances, monachism, and 
fasting," the author intimates, that " it is natural 
to man, in certain stages of civilization, to believe 
the Deity to be a malevolent being delighted with 



62 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

the misery of his creatures," &c. What a delec- 
table picture we have here of this religious senti- 
ment which is " innate in man," a "part of his 
nature," " implanted in man by his Creator," and 
deserving " profound respect." 

With respect to the austerities and penances of 
monachism, religion is not justly chargeable with 
them in whole or in part, and with this absolute 
disclaimer we may dismiss these with the same 
remark contained in the notice of the former 
chapter. But in relation to fasting or abstinence, 
which is a scriptural duty, and a part of religion 
by Divine authority, it may be expected that 
something should be said in reply to the gross ca- 
ricature drawn by the author. He affirms, that 
" it was not till after the death of the Apostles 
that fasting was considered an important duty," 
and " that Christ did not authorize fasting from 
food," and these assertions are made in the face of 
the plain and unequivocal directions of Christ in 
his sermon on the mount, where he not only en- 
joins fasting, but adds instructions in relation to 
the manner of fasting, so as to be acceptable to 
God. — Matt. vi. 17, 18. And yet the author de- 
clares authoritatively, that the New Testament 
does not authorize any other fast than when " na- 
ture withdraws the appetite, as the natural result 
of sorrow." His lamentable want of information 
on the subject of which he writes, must excuse 
this among other similar blunders, which abound 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 63 

in every chapter of his book. As regards the ef- 
fects of fasting upon health, we have but a single 
remark, and it is this, whenever fasting is carried 
to the extent of being injurious to health, it has no 
semblance of authority from religion, but is 
prompted by superstition or the religious senti- 
ment. 

Thus far our author has chiefly directed his at- 
tention to the effects of "the religious sentiment," 
as seen in paganism and heathenism, with only 
occasional reference to the ceremonies of any sect 
of Christians. In the fourth chapter, however, he 
approaches the subject of Christianity distinctive- 
ly, by considering " the influence upon health, of 
some of the rites, sacraments and ceremonies of 
the Christian church." He enumerates the seven 
sacraments of the Roman Catholic and Greek 
churches, but contents himself with a labored cri- 
ticism upon " The Lord's Supper and Baptism," 
because these are very generally celebrated in 
Christian churches, and we now hear no more of 
"the religious sentiment." 

Of the Lord's Supper, the author admits that 
" there is no objection to it on account of any inju- 
rious effect upon health, when the ceremony is 
short, and does not interfere with the usual meals 
of the day, and when the bread and wine, or what 
ever else is used, is of good quality and taken in 
small quantity." In this preliminary concession, 
every thing is granted which the practice of any 



04 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

sect of Christians in this country, or in the world 
requires where the Lord's Supper is celebrated. 
1st. The ceremony is short. 2d. It does not in- 
terfere with usual meals. 3d. The bread and 
wine is of good quality ; and 4th. It is only taken 
in small quantity. As with these conditions no 
injurious effect upon health is alleged as proba- 
ble, or even possible, we might have expected that 
he would have spared any farther animadversions 
upon the subject. But instead of this, he proceeds 
to describe the variety in the ancient and modern 
forms of administering this ordinance, and the 
author gravely enlightens his readers in the histo- 
ry and mystery of the recent petty fanatical dis- 
putations among some dozen or more illiterate 
zealots and ultraists in the northern and eastern 
portion of this countr} 7 ", on the subject of substitu- 
ting some other article for wine in the sacrament. 
This controversy, to which he attaches immense 
importance, attributing it to "many of the clergy 
of this country," has been regarded as too insigni- 
ficant to call for sober refutation, and the authors 
of the stupid and senseless proposition to substi- 
tute " tamarind water, molasses and water," and 
the like, for the "fruit of the vine' 9 will acquire 
more of notoriety and publicity by the notice taken 
of them in this book, than they could otherwise 
have hoped to acquire. We doubt, however, 
whether they will be very thankful to the author 
for perpetuating a piece of folly, of which the sen- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 65 

sible portion of the disputants are already heartily 
ashamed. 

It would be an unanswerable refutation of all 
the author has said on this subject, to allude to the 
fact, that notwithstanding the celebration of the 
Lord's Supper was shockingly perverted and abu- 
sed by the Corinthians, and called forth from the 
apostle the most pointed rebuke, yet no intimation 
is given that the ceremony ought to be abandoned, 
or might be innocently omitted, in consequence of 
its being susceptible of this abuse. The holy apos- 
tle, however, was not a phrenologist, and he did not 
know that it would " prove injurious to health and 
ought to be abandoned," much less had he learn- 
ed, that this ordinance " derives no support from 
the instructions of Christ." 

But the author having failed to make out his 
case of the injurious effect upon health, produced 
by any form of administration of the Lord's Supper, 
he nevertheless proceeds to discuss the very rele- 
vant subject, whether Christ ever instituted it ; and 
having, as he sagely imagines, established the ne- 
gative of the proposition, he decides ex cathedra that 
it ought to be abandoned. He quotes from the 
Evangelists and Robert Barclay, but wholly over- 
looks the Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, as 
though this was no part of the sacred canon. 
Had he read the eleventh chapter of this epistle, 
he would have learned the Divine authority for 

the institution of this ordinance, which the apostle 

6* 



66 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

affirms he " received from the Lord," as well as 
for its perpetuation to the end of time. And yet 
such is the author's ignorance upon the subject 
upon which he writes, that he asserts that 
the institution " derives no support from the 
instructions of Christ," though he concedes there 
is " a slight command in the words, " Do this in 
remembrance of me." Yet as it is only " a slight 
command," and as there is " no authority from 
reason for its continuance," he insists it ought to 
be abandoned. 

Among other objections, the author alleges that 
" reflecting and inquiring men see nothing of a 
moral or instructive nature in this ceremony." 
This information will amaze the unsophisticated 
reader who has become at all acquainted with this 
sacred subject, even in theory. The institution 
of the Lord's Supper is not only a monumental ce- 
lebration of the most stupendous event in this 
world's history, and an expressive symbol of the 
most important doctrine in the moral universe, but 
it is likewise a standing and irrefragable evidence 
of the truth of Christianity, as well as the Divinely 
appointed seal of the covenant of grace. And yet 
the author and his " reflecting and inquiring " bre- 
thren " see in it nothing moral or instructive." 

But his strongest objection to this ordinance is, 
that "it seems to be a kind of worship of Christ 
himself, which he never enjoined upon all his fol- 
lowers." That an infidel or Socinian should take 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 67 

this position is perfectly natural, but for a Chris- 
tian to present such an objection, is both inconsis- 
tent and absurd. But the author has so little ac- 
quaintance with the Scriptures, that he affirms that 
the "worship of Christ implied in this ceremony, 
is inconsistent with his teachings, in which he " al- 
ways kept himself out of sight!" How any man would 
hazard his reputation for intelligence, common 
sense, or common honesty, by such an idle asser- 
tion, with the Bible in his hand, it would puzzle a 
Jesuit to determine. Did Christ " keep himself out 
of sight" when he taught his disciples, saying, " I 
am the light of the world" " Without me, ye can 
do nothing." " J am Alpha and Omega, the begin- 
ning and the ending, the first and the last." " If 
ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your 
sins." " Jam the way, the truth and the life." 
" Ye will not come unto me that ye might have 
life." " land the Father are one." Are these the 
proofs that in the " teachings of Christ he always 
kept himself out of sight ? " And does the wor- 
ship of Christ which is implied in the Lord's Sup- 
per, so grievously offend this theological cynic ? 
What then does he do with the plain and unequi- 
vocal declarations of Scripture on this point? " All 
men should honor the Son even as they honor the 
Father." " At the name of Jesus every knee shall 
bow." m Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." 
" To Him be glory, both now and forever, amen," 



6S REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

But we forbear to multiply citations in a case 
so plain, and must acknowledge that we are shock- 
ed at the temerity which has led the author into 
so ridiculous an attitude as this portion of the vo- 
lume places him. Quern Deus vult pe?~dere, prius 
dementat. Surely so flagrant misrepresentation and 
sophistry as that we have been constrained to ex- 
pose, would seem to imply that the author is not 
only destitute of any species of information on the 
topics he pretends to discuss, but that he must 
have been deprived of his reason. If we were to 
name the species of insanity under which he la- 
bors, we could not call it mono-mama,, since this is 
not the only topic upon which he appears to be 
7W71 compos mentis. We would probably be obliged 
to invent a term significant of the fact that he is 
demented not on one topic, but on ma7iy, and hence 
call his malady potym&nm. He cannot be sus- 
pected of religious derangement by any one who 
reads his book, unless we adopt his phrenological 
exposition of the religious sentiment, and account 
for his symptoms by the prominent " develop- 
ments" which depend upon " his organization." 

In relation to the ordinance of Baptism, very 
nearly similar ground is taken. He first describes 
the various modes of its administration in diffe- 
rent periods of the church, and then attempts to 
prove that Christ did not enjoin baptism, and this 
in the face of the Scripture testimony, part of 
which he quotes. He ascribes the baptism of 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIOHAM. 69 

Christ by John to the same reason which influ- 
enced the circumcision of Timothy, wholly disre- 
garding the essentially different reasons assigned 
by inspiration. The command of Christ to go 
into all the world, baptizing, &c, he interprets to 
mean, giving the converts a new name, but he care- 
fully abstains from any allusion to the practice of 
the Apostles under that commission, and the mul- 
tiplied instances of baptisms recorded in the 
Scriptures, in all of which water is explicitly stated 
to have been employed, and nothing at all said of 
his " new name" But it were idle to detain the 
reader by any farther notice of such consummate 
folly, a refutation of which is not worthy of idiotic 
talents. 

In his remarks on the effects of baptism upon 
health, he maintains that the mode of immersion 
is dangerous, especially to the feeble, to infants, 
and in cold climates ; — but he does not presume 
to urge this objection against the modes of sprink- 
ling and pouring, but singles out for his animad- 
versions those few cases in which the mode or 
circumstances may prove injurious to health. He 
seems sensible of the imbecility of this portion of 
his book, in which he arrives most truly at a lame 
and impotent conclusion, and he therefore hastily 
winds up the chapter with a flourish about " wash- 
ing feet" and " kissing," which is too puerile to 
deserve criticism. In this connexion he again 
quotes largely from " the excellent Robert Bar- 



70 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

clay," whose reasonings he pronounces unan- 
swerable. If he had weighed Barclay's reason- 
ings in relation to " the gift of the Holy Spirit," 
and his " special influence," he would have found 
arguments which remain unanswered, because 
they are unanswerable. Barclay rejects only 
" the outward and visible signs" of these ordi- 
nances, but he zealously contends for the " inward 
and spiritual grace," which is the substance of 
that which the former only " shadow forth and 
symbolize." 

But Dr. Brigham utterly repudiates both the 
substance and the shadow; denying the " baptism 
of the Holy Ghost," and by consequence the figure 
divinely appointed to represent it ; rejecting the 
anti-type he would annihilate the type, which, ac- 
cording to his philosophy, is unmeaning, signify- 
ing nothing. Abjuring religion itself, he can have 
no possible use for any of its forms, rites, and ce- 
remonies. There is, therefore, an inconceivable 
moral distance between these two writers, for 
while Dr. B. denies both the form and the poiver 
of religion ; Robert Barclay only rejected the 
" form," because of his confidence in the " power 
of godliness." His reason for dispensing with 
" waterbaptism," is declared by himself to be that 
this was only a figure instituted temporarily in the 
primitive church, and is rendered unnecessary now 
that the " dispensation of the spirit" is fully come, 
because the shadow may be dispensed with, when 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 71 

we have the substance. If the author found his 
" reasoning unanswerable," as he affirms, then it 
is plain that even Robert Barclay has proved the 
" special influence of the spirit," beyond the power 
of Dr. Brigham's philosophy and logic to refute, 
and he therefore proves too much ; since both the 
abrogation of " water baptism," and the " neces- 
sity of the baptism of the Holy Ghost," which 
the former symbolized and prefigured, are sustain- 
ed by the same " unanswerable reasonings." And 
yet they seem to have produced no other impres- 
sion on the mind of the latter, than to lead him to 
the rejection both of "the letter and the Spirit." 
The reason will presently appear, and in no wise 
proves that Barclay's argument has this design or 
tendency, but Dr. Brigham having already rejected 
all the " spirituality" of religion, only needed 
these reasonings to authorize a similar estimate of 
its " forms." 

In the fifth chapter our author treats of places 
of worship, inconvenience of houses, night meet- 
ings, camp meetings, protracted meetings, and 
ringing of bells. With his observations on the 
manner of building and furnishing houses of wor- 
ship, so as to make them comfortable ; and with 
his just censures on the carelessness so prevalent 
in these respects, and so prejudicial to health, we 
need not detain the reader. Nor are we at all dis- 
posed to censure the merited rebuke given by the 
author, to those who, while attending church, allow 



72 REVIEW OF BR. BRIGHAM. 

their horses to suffer by being exposed to the 
weather. On these, and the like subjects, the au- 
thor is qualified to write by his previous studies, 
habits, and information, and were he equally ac- 
quainted with the subject of religion, this book 
would never have been published. 

But when he takes up the subject of night 
meetings, which seem to be his peculiar horror, the 
author appears unable to suppress his indignation 
or restrain his anathemas. He premises that by 
night meetings, he means " those which are holden 
for religious purposes," for of these he says, " I 
consider theatres and balls as less injurious to the 
health of the people of this country than religions 
night meetings. 5 ' To be sure he assigns as a rea- 
son the great comparative frequency of the latter, 
but from the stress laid upon their religious cha- 
racter, and the sneering he uses in relation to the 
variety of occasions for them, it is plain, that if 
the night meetings were not religious, and were 
ever so frequent, they might, in his opinion, be in- 
nocent and useful. 

While he admits that " hundreds of females 
lose their lives from complaints produced by at- 
tending theatres and balls," yet he " wishes 
dancing were more general in private houses," so 
that this kind of "night meetings" would be salu- 
tary to health, however frequent, if there was no 
religion mingled with them, a proviso which we 
should think, not very difficult to secure. And he 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 73 

broadly intimates, that " theatre going" is not ob- 
jectionable, on account of being injurious to the 
body, nor would it be injurious to the mind if it 
were not for the indecent and vulgar plays brought 
upon the stage. 

The dangerous and alarming influence of reli- 
gious night meetings upon health is dwelt upon at 
great length, and the clergy are pathetically ap- 
pealed to for their abandonment, while the ladies 
are warned to avoid them as they wish to escape 
"nervous and hysterical diseases, apoplexy, palsy, con- 
sumption and death" If this black catalogue does 
not affright the fair inhabitants of New England, 
and all the world, from religious night meetings, 
he has called " spirits from the vasty deep " in 
vain. 

The zeal, fervor, and eloquence of the author on 
this subject, would be absolutely sublime if there 
were more than " one step " from thence " to the 
ridiculous." But to overlook, as he does, the mul- 
tiplied and multiplying parties, soirees, quiltings, 
levees, and converzationes of the ladies, and the se- 
cular, political and festive assemblages of the other 
sex, and especially those which are far more fre- 
quent, and continue to much later hours of the night 
than the meetings he reprobates, renders his sage 
criticisms superlatively ludicrous. In our large 
cities, multitudes of both sexes, it is well known, 
are in the theatres, circuses, concerts, museums, 

or other public places of amusement, almost every 

7 



74 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

evening in the week, and most of these, as in New 
York, are thronged even on the Sabbath. Beside 
these public places, which are crowded at all sea- 
sons of the year, and often until after midnight, 
there are musical, and dancing, and card parties, 
publics, and balls, which are protracted during 
the greater part of the night, where all the mis- 
chiefs to health which the author deprecates are 
ten-fold greater than in the cases complained of; 
and yet the author sounds no note of danger, ut- 
ters no cry of alarm, proclaims no voice of lamen- 
tation, but is so exceedingly explicit as to say, 
a By night meetings, I mean those which are hol- 
den for religious purposes," and upon these only he 
places his ban of reprobation. 

The truth is, the night meetings held in the 
churches, are seldom continued longer than from 
one to two hours, and are crowded only on some 
special occasions, which, for the most part, are 
exceedingly rare. The frequency of these meet- 
ings is therefore greatly overrated, and on this, as 
well as on other topics, the author draws largely 
upon his imagination for his facts. A striking 
example of his propensity to exaggeration is fur- 
nished in the opinion he expresses that " one Jialf 
of the females between the age of fifteen and fifty, 
throughout the whole community, attend religious 
meetings one hundred and fifty nights in a year/' 
The reader will need no other evidence to deter- 
mine what share of credibility is merited by his 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 75 

sweeping assertions. And even if it were true, the 
short time usually occupied in such meetings could 
not then be productive of the mischiefs so terrifical- 
ly portrayed. Indeed, it must be regarded as be- 
yond all the mysteries of the universe, that so large 
a proportion of the females of the whole communi- 
ty, as he describes, should be perennially subject- 
ed to the causes which ruin their health, while the 
instances of the actual production of disease from 
this source should be so " few and far between." 
For we hesitate not to aver, that the most accurate 
statistics will prove that more females die every 
year of hydrophobia in the various parts of this 
country, than of diseases produced by religious 
night meetings. We regard the doleful predic- 
tions and lamentations of this alarmist, as evincing 
profound stupidity, and meriting supreme con- 
tempt. 

The author, next in order, takes up camp meet- 
ings, by which, he says, " I mean meetings of nu- 
merous individuals out of doors, usually in the 
woods, for the purpose of devoting themselves for 
several days and nights to prayer, and to attend- 
ance on other religious exercises" The reader will 
perceive, that in thus selecting camp meetings as 
the topic of his animadversions, he condemns only 
those which are for " prayer and religious exer- 
cises." This, as in the case of night meetings, is 
14 the head and front of their offending." En- 
campments for hunting, fishing, and pleasure ex- 



76 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

cursions, or those upon the race course, are inno- 
cent and perhaps salutary, for though they consist 
of " numerous individuals, out of doors, and in 
the woods," yet they are not for the unhealthy and 
mischievous " purpose of prayer and religious 
exercises," and are therefore harmless, if not lau- 
dable. That this view of the author's meaning is 
correct, may be seen from the fact, that " four 
day's meetings," or "protracted meetings," which 
he says took their rise from camp meetings, are de- 
clared to be equally mischievous to the health, 
though these resemble each other, neither in being 
" out of doors," nor "in the woods," but only in 
their being held ''for prayer and religious exercises ," 
which seem to be the peculiar horror of the author, 
since he seldom mentions such things, but he asso- 
ciates them with "hysterics, apoplexy, insanhy, 
and death!" 

In the accounts he selects of a number of these 
meetings, and the correctness of which he does 
not question, we find no mention of any injurious 
effects upon the health of the multitudes in attend- 
ance, though the Doctor says he has " profession- 
ally attended several persons who were made sick, 
they themselves were convinced, by attending 
camp meetings, and he has heard of many others." 
These facts are highly probable, but it would be a 
most astounding miracle indeed, if camp meet- 
ings should prevent any person who attended 
them from being sick, among the thousands usually 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 77 

assembled on such occasions, especially if, as he 
says, "the accommodations in the tents, especial- 
ly for females, are bad." Indeed, the description 
he gives of these meetings will convince their 
warmest admirer that they must be injurious to 
health, were it not for the inconsiderable circum- 
stance, that it happens to be untrue. For exam- 
ple, he says, "necessarily! there must be great 
exposure to cold and rain!" when, as it is noto- 
riously known, hundreds of camp meetings are 
conducted to their conclusion throughout, in a tem- 
perature varying from 70 to 90° of Farenheit, 
without a particle of rain. But again, he says, 
14 necessarily there is great exposure to bad air in 
crowded tents /" This again is a very rare occur- 
rence, for the public exercises are not held in tents, 
but in the open air, where it is impossible to be 
crowded, or to suffer from had air, unless they could 
fill " all outdoors," and arrest the winds of hea- 
ven. But he next enumerates, among necessary 
evils, " that meals will be irregular, and sleep 
disturbed," when the fact in the case is well known 
to be, that the " regularity of the meals" is often 
much greater than people are accustomed to at 
home, and the experience of those who attend 
these meetings will prove, that so far from having 
their sleep disturbed, they may, if they please, 
sleep longer and more undisturbed than usual. 
This results from the almost universal regulation 

of the times for meals, and the times for retiring, 

7* 



78 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

by the blowing of a horn. The rules for the go- 
vernment of camp meetings, and which are strict- 
ly enforced, absolutely prevent either " irregular 
meals or disturbed sleep," unless it be under some 
special circumstances, or on the last night of the 
meeting, when religious services are sometimes 
continued through the night. 

But the author not only blunders in every part 
of his theory, in enumerating the cause w r hich 
produce diseases at camp meetings, and which, as 
we have seen, only exist in his morbific imagina- 
tion ; but he is equally in fault, when in the exu- 
berance of his liberality and boundless charity, 
he conjectures the motives of those who hold 
them. He says, that " no other reason can be 
given, but that they affect the mind and agitate 
the body." Here then we are told by high au- 
thority, that the motive of those who hold camp 
meetings, is to " affect the mind and agitate the 
body," and as they are over and over attributed 
mainly to the " Christian sect called Methodists," 
it is plainly the object of the author to impute this 
object to the clergy of that denomination. How 
it " affects the mind," we are not informed in this 
book, except that " the sect of Methodists has 
been greatly increased by them," and " they have 
added greatly to the number of the Methodists," 
events, which however calamitous to the public 
health, he does not specify whether they are the 
result of "affecting the mind or agitating the 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 79 

body." It is true, he affirms that " he witnessed 
a most deplorable case of insanity, which appear- 
ed to be caused in a young lady, by attending a 
camp meeting," which appearance is highly pro- 
bable, if she was in " the bad air of crowded 
tents," or " exposed to cold and rain," with irre- 
gular meals and disturbed sleep," for these would 
both " affect the mind and agitate the body." To 
be sure, he says, these are " necessarily" the cir- 
cumstances attending camp meetings, and he pro- 
fesses to speak from personal observation. It is 
difficult to account for this false description arid 
caricature, unless we suppose that some time or 
other he went to a camp meeting in a storm of cold 
and rain, when the public exercises were inter- 
rupted, and the people crowded in the tents to 
escape the temporary inclemency of the weather. 
And if, under such circumstances, some were not 
made sick, it would be enough to invest these 
meetings with sovereign and miraculous endow- 
ments for preventing disease. It may have been 
in a contingency of this kind, that the 3 7 'oung lady 
he speaks of suffered in her health, and afterwards 
became insane. We remember an analogous in- 
stance of most deplorable insanity, which appear- 
ed to have been caused by a young lady being 
married, and "in her case, there was no heredi- 
tary tendency, nor had there been any symptoms 
previously" to the ceremony of her nuptials. And 
we might, with as much propriety and with equal 



80 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

success, attempt to frighten the ladies from mar- 
riage, because of this rare instance ; as to intimi- 
date females from camp meetings, because of the 
case he names. Indeed, the ceremony of marriage 
" affects the mind and agitates the body," in most 
instances, more than attending camp meetings, 
and if the author should witness a case like the 
one we have described, according to his logic, 
" reason would condemn it, and experience show 
it to be dangerous both to mind and body," and 
we might expect him to read a homily, calling 
upon the " intelligent clergy," " influential men, 
and especially females" to examine the subject, 
and " agree with him," that marriage "ought to 
be abandoned, or greatly modified!" 

Protracted meetings constitute the next theme 
of the author's strictures ; by which term he says, 
"I mean religious, meetings of several days con- 
tinuance," sometimes called " four days meet- 
ings." They are " similar in all respects, except 
the camping out, to the camp meetings of the Me- 
thodists." He says they are held "for the pur- 
pose of producing religious excitement," and some- 
times continue forty days. He gives the following 
account of the manner in which they are generally 
conducted, viz: prayer meetings or inquiry meet- 
ings early in the morning ; then preaching, pray- 
ing and singing in the forenoon ; in the afternoon, 
another sermon with prayers and singing ; in the 
evening, a third sermon, praying, singing, exhor- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 81 

tation and examination of those called anxious or 
awakened" 

That these meetings are injurious to the health, 
is alleged by the author for the following reasons : 
" Assembling men, women and children ; talking 
to them, exciting them, and making them anxious 
and disturbed for days and weeks on the subject 
of religion ;" the bodily labor and fatigue in attend- 
ing church early in the morning, most of the day, 
and late in the evening, days and weeks in succes- 
sion, exposed to variable weather, a vitiated at?nos~ 
phere, sudden and great changes of temperature, 
by going from heated, crowded rooms into the open 
air" For these reasons, as well as the injury 
suffered by the clergy by preaching, praying, de- 
claiming and exhorting most of the time, he objects 
to these meetings on account of their mischievous 
influence upon health. He says he has " known 
several cases of severe disease, which he believes 
originated from attending protracted meetings, and 
several cases of insanity which appeared to have 
the same cause," and he refers for still further evi- 
dence to " the case books of the lunatic establish- 
ments in New England." 

That there are circumstances, some of which 
are named by the author, which are justly repre- 
hensible in protracted meetings, because hurtful to 
health, is readily admitted. Indeed the descrip- 
tions he quotes from published documents of the 
meetings conducted by weak, ignorant and fana- 



82 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

tical men in several towns and cities of the north 
and east, if they are true, are justly censurable, 
not only for their influence upon health, but for 
their deplorable moral influence. But that religion 
should be censured or condemned, or even pro- 
tracted meetings made the theme of indiscrimi- 
nate denunciation, because of the folly, indiscre- 
tion, and extravagances of such " weak brethren," 
is profoundly stupid, and indeed criminally repre- 
hensible in a professed Christian. 

It is ridiculous and absurd, as well as cruel in- 
justice to charge upon the whole Christian com- 
munity, and upon religion itself, the wild and in- 
coherent ravings of fanatics or madmen, or hold 
the churches responsible for the effects such men 
produce by their phrenzy. The effects of such 
meetings as are here described, are evil, and only 
evil physically, mentally and morally, nor do in- 
telligent Christians approve, tolerate, or excuse 
the improprieties complained of. And had the 
author restricted his censures to the agents and 
abettors of these enormities he might have claimed 
respect for his faithfulness and candor. 

No one, however, can read this book and not 
distinctly perceive that the reprobation of the 
author extends to protracted meetings indiscrimi- 
nately, not because of the exceptionable features 
above mentioned, but as in the case of night and 
camp meetings, because they are " held for reli- 
gious purposes." Indeed the zeal exhibited m 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 83 

his attempt to convict religion itself of causing dis- 
ease and death, has led him to indiscretions and 
perversions of fact of which he ought to be asham- 
ed. In his classification of reasons for the un- 
healthiness of these various meetings, it is obvious 
that the author enumerates a number of causes 
of disease which are demonstrably more pal- 
pable and vastly more potent than " mental," 
or even " religious excitement." Hence he dwells 
upon the " bodily labor and fatigue " imposed, the 
" exposure to variable weather, a vitiated atmosphere^ 
and sudden and great changes of temperature by 
going from heated crowded rooms into the open air" 
And he finds himself under the necessity of array- 
ing all these physical causes of disease, which are 
mere contingencies, in the catalogue of morbid 
agencies, which render such meetings unhealthy, 
because he discovers that " religious excitement" 
is wholly insufficient for his purpose. Nobody 
doubts that the circumstances he names are physi- 
cal causes of disease of themselves ; but he su- 
peradds all these to the " mental and religious 
excitement " with the view of rendering it proba- 
ble that such meetings are unhealthy. Yet they 
are wholly irrelevant, because neither " religion" 
nor " religious excitement " can be justly im- 
plicated in the causation of maladies, which are 
avowedly produced by physical agents, such as 
those he describes, 

A number of accounts of protracted meetings 



84 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

are here introduced from various religious jour- 
nals, and the use made of them is truly extraor- 
dinary. 

For illustration we refer the reader to the sketch 
of the life and death of a little girl, extracted from 
the " Sunday School Record," and found under 
the head of Protracted Meetings, on page 178 of 
this book. The author attempts to render it pro- 
bable that the child's death was caused or accel- 
lerated by religious excitement, which, however 
possible he may think it in other cases, in the in- 
stance here named, has not the least semblance of 
evidence. The facts are, that a child of eleven 
or twelve years old, the daughter of a minister, 
attended a protracted meeting, at which her father 
officiated, became interested in religious things in 
which she had been early initiated at home and in 
the Sabbath school, and after a short season of 
anxiety of mind, was hopefully converted. A "few 
weeks after" this child became sick, and died of a 
"fever of the most malignant kind," during which 
her reason was impaired, as is usual in such fevers, 
for a short time ; but four days before her death she 
was rational and intelligent, and conversed with 
her parents and friends in a manner which demon- 
straed the possession of her reason, and the experi- 
ence of genuine evangelical religion. The narra- 
tive is drawn up without any savor of enthusiasm 
or extravagance, and will be found pathetic and 
interesting. 



REVIEW OF VU. BRIGHAM. 85 

On this case the author founds a "warning to 
parents," against such reprehensible conduct as 
cherishing religious exercises in their children, 
and after describing the habits of devotion and 
piety of this little girl as highly censurable, he 
adds, " then came delirium, disease and death !" 
and proceeds to attribute the child's death to at- 
tending religious protracted meetings as its cause. 
But, unfortunately for his professional character 
and candor, the narrative states, that the disease 
did not appear " for weeks after" these meetings, 
and moreover, the disease is represented to have 
been a "fever of the" most malignant kind," in 
which all the world knows delirium would have 
occurred, if she had never seen a " protracted 
meeting," and the Doctor surely need not be in- 
formed, that malignant fever must have some other 
source than " attending sunrise prayer meetings," 
which he names as the most horrible proximate 
cause of her malady. 

Ringing of bells is the subject with which this 
long chapter concludes, and is another evidence 
of the " influence of religion upon the health and 
physical welfare of mankind." He says, people 
in health, and himself included, are " greatly an- 
noyed by the noise of the bells on the Lord's day, 
the sick are very much injured, and he has no 
doubt that in some instances it has proved fatal." 
He argues that the "church-going bell" should 
be silenced henceforth, and suggests that the inha- 

8 



S6 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

bitants may be summoned to church, by criers 
from the " galleries of the minarets attached to 
the mosques," as the Mahometans do, or by the 
blowing of a horn, the beating of a drum, or by hoist- 
ing a flag. This last method he greatly prefers, 
and should be substituted for the ringing of bells, 
since it makes no kind of noise. One can scarcely 
preserve his gravity, in perusing such sublimated 
nonsense. It is not wonderful, therefore, that a 
lady of New England has yielded to the tempta- 
tion of castigating the author by a piece of satire, 
which deserves a more permanent place than the 
columns of the " Connecticut Courant." In the 
notice she takes of this homily of the author 
against the church bells, which so terribly disturb 
his equanimity, she points to an analogous evil, 
arising from the ringing of physicians' night-bells, 
where the most serious and alarming mischiefs re- 
sult in consequence of the neighbors being roused 
from their slumbers, and especially mischievous 
to the sick. She imitates the author in proposing 
a remedy for this dangerous method of summon- 
ing the doctors on emergent occasions, and mo- 
destly suggests Miss Elizabeth Carter's plan, by 
a long string being tied to the foot of the learned 
gentleman of the faculty, and reaching to the front 
door. In that case she thinks that if deep sleep, 
or a cold night, should not be overcome by huma- 
nity and the prospective fee, and a slight twitch 
from the shivering messenger should not rouse, 
that a stout tug might soon bring the son of Escu- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 87 

lapius to a sense of his duty. And as she is sure 
" all intelligent physicians" arid influential men 
will view this subject as she does, she confidently 
trusts her hints may remove the dreadful mischiefs 
which ringing of bells, in such cases, never fail 
to induce. The puerility of the author on this sub- 
ject merits no other reply than such an exposure 
of his folly to merited ridicule. 

The sixth chapter is devoted to " modern revi- 
vals of religion, and what are called the special 
effects of the Holy Spirit, and a comparison of 
these effects with the phenomena of disease, ani- 
mal magnetism and excitements of the nervous 
system." From the evidence already before the 
reader, he may be prepared to estimate the fitness 
of the author's mind and habits to discuss a sub- 
ject of this nature. He declares, that it is " emi- 
nently philosophical," and professes to estimate 
its " gravity and importance." and promises to 
treat it with " candor and solemnity," with the 
" desire predominating over all others, that the 
truth may be elicited." 

After such an exordium to this " eminently phi- 
losophical" department of his subject, and such 
an assurance of candor in its examination, we can 
scarcely be prepared, even after all we have seen 
of this erratic writer, for such a tissue of unfound- 
ed distortion of facts, impeachment of motives and 
censorious denunciation of character, as are here 
exhibited. The doctrine of Divine influence, 



SS REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

which is as eminently scriptural as it is philoso- 
phical, is grossly misrepresented, and a " state- 
ment of doctrinal views," in relation to the gift 
and influences of the Holy Spirit, is ascribed to 
the " advocates of revivals of religion," which 
no sect of evangelical Christians in the land ever 
held or taught. Nay more, if the sentiments at- 
tributed by the author to " innumerable clergy- 
men," were avowed through the pulpit or the 
press, by any man, however exalted in character 
or popularity, he would be forthwith excommuni- 
cated from any Christian church in the country, 
for " damnable heresy." And we hesitate not to 
affirm, that no man could be found, in the posses- 
sion of his reason, who would testify that he ever 
before saw such doctrines in print, or heard them 
uttered by any professed Christian or minister of 
the gospel. Some of them are too shocking for 
repetition, and too revolting to have found a place 
in the heart of any other than the author. The 
monstrous extravagancies of Irving, the shocking 
mysticism of the Mormons, the profane impostures 
of Matthias are pardonable, nay, innocent, in com- 
parison with the " blasphemy against the Holy 
Ghost," of which the author accuses " innumera- 
ble clergymen," and indeed all who advocate 
" revivals of religion." 

Perhaps no where in this extraordinary volume 
does he exhibit more clearly the wretched perver- 
sion of his mind, than in the self-complacency with 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 89 

which he denounces his literary, philosophical and 
theological philippics against the great and good, 
the illustrious Jonathan Edwards ! Of the works of 
President Edwards, which he says he has care- 
fully examined, the author authoritatively pro- 
nounces, that they are "illogical, inconclusive, and 
evidence but little research or reflection ; and that 
they are contradictory in important points, and 
abound with careless and erroneotcs statements." 
Such is the grave criticism, pronounced with ama- 
zing composure, in relation to the works of a man, 
whose enlightened piety, learning, and acquaint- 
ance with the philosophy of mind, has challenged 
the admiration of the wise and good in both he- 
mispheres, and whose name is imperishably iden- 
tified with the history of his country, as one of the 
brightest luminaries in the department of sancti- 
fied learning. That the author should thus write 
in New England, where the name and reputation 
of Edwards are revered and venerated, betrays a 
recklessness of character in which he will scarcely 
find a rival. 

It is true, that the names of Sprague and Finney 
are associated with Edwards in his wholesale con- 
demnation, but these ordinary men will find in the 
fact of being connected with that intellectual giant, 
a consoling recompense for all the condemnation, 
which, with him, they are permitted to share> 
Nor can the author gain any share of credence, 
even for just and merited criticism upon the works 



90 REVIEW OF DR. BR1GHAM. 

of other writers, when he inscribes his own folly, 
bj r branding such a man as Jonathan Edwards 
with " justifying the most wild fanaticism the 
world has ever known." 

The reason why President Edwards is thus 
singled out for the author's reprobation, is ma- 
nifest in the extracts made from his writings, 
which prove that he believed in " revivals of re- 
ligion,'' and attributed them to the " agency of the 
Holy Spirit." For this reason alone, he and Wes- 
ley and Whitfield, with others among the eloquent 
and learned divines of the last century are jointly 
classed with Finney, Burchard, and other modern 
" revivalists," and an attempt is even made by 
garbled and distorted extracts from the writings 
of those holy men of the last century, to identify 
them with Irving, Pierson and Matthias. This, as 
the author thinks, can be logically justified, for as, 
the former believed in the " special outpouring 
of the Spirit of God" in revivals, they must, to be 
consistent, also believe in the effects ascribed to 
that Spirit in " convulsions, fallings, outcries, dreams, 
visions, gift, of tongues, spirit of prophecy," and all 
that the most wild fanatics claim and exhibit. By 
such logic does the author attempt to make out his 
case after all his professions of candor and solem- 
nity, and a predominant desire to "elicit the 
truth." 

Possibly, however, he has fallen into these mul- 
tiplied mistakes, and misapprehensions, solely be- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 91 

cause of his manifest ignorance on the subject up- 
on which he writes, and the reader may make the 
effort to believe that his head rather than his heart 
is in fault. Charity will suggest this thought, if, 
as we proceed, truth and justice do not; constrain 
its abandonment. 

In this long chapter of more than eighty pages, 
and constituting nearly one-fourth of the book, 
there are so many topics introduced, that it will 
be necessary to detain the reader here by a few 
preliminary suggestions. In the description here 
given of the nature of what is called " a revival of 
religion," the author grossly misrepresents the cir- 
cumstances ordinarily attending them, and selects 
to suit his purpose, solitary instances occurring in 
revivals, which are exceptions to the general rule, 
and some of them exceedingly objectionable in the 
estimation of sober Christians. He makes no 
mention of the comparative darkness and igno^ 
ranee of the times in which some of the events 
occurred, nor of the intellectual imbecility of the 
individuals who were the subjects of some of the 
extravagancies named, concessions which candor 
and truth required him to make. 

But his account of thedoctrines held and taught 
in common by Edwards, Wesley, Whitfield, 
Sprague, and others, is still more uncandid and 
exceptionable. Their doctrine in relation to revi- 
vals, are strictly those of the Bible, while the sen- 
timents ascribed to them by the author are both 



92 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

unscriptural and absurd. The whole representa- 
tion here given of the " doctrine of the special in- 
fluence of the Holy Spirit," is essentially erro- 
neous, and in relation to those excellent men 
whose writings were before him, his allegations 
are absolutely calumnious and libellous. They 
never held or taught the sentiments ascribed to 
them, nor is there any sect of evangelical Chris- 
tians who would not utterly repudiate them, either 
in this or any other country. This entire state- 
ment of the views of those who advocate revivals 
of religion, is a vile caricature, and if the author 
believes it himself, he will find few readers equal- 
ly credulous. Indeed, if with the books before 
him from which his detached and dislocated ex- 
tracts are taken, he could persuade himself that 
Christian men and ministers could subscribe to 
such a creed as he has attributed to them, then is 
he entitled to our commisseration, rather than our 
censures, since it is obviously his misfortune rather 
than his fault. 

As the author says on page 196, that he does 
not question the special influence of the Holy Spi- 
rit as mentioned in Scripture, as in Paul's conver- 
sion, in the day of pentecost and other places in 
the New Testament, we shall now give a brief 
summary of the views of those who, with Ed- 
wards, Wesley, and others, believe in revivals of 
religion, and the reader will perceive that they 
bear no analogy to those attributed to them by the 
author. 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 93 

They believe that " a manifestation of the Spirit 
is given to every man to profit withal," that Christ 
is the " true light which lighteth every man that 
cometh into the world," from which Scriptures 
they learn that by the atonement of Christ, who 
"by the grace of God tasted death for every 
man," salvation from sin and its consequences, is 
attainable on condition of repentance toward God, 
and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." They be- 
lieve that it is by the Spirit of God that men are 
convinced of sin, and that under His influence, 
which is promised to all who ask for it, any sinner 
has all necessary ability to obtain salvation. They 
believe that " except a man be born of the Spirit 
he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven," and 
that " except we repent we shall all likewise per- 
ish." They believe that the preaching of the 
Gospel is Divinely appointed as the great instru- 
ment to " turn men from darkness to light," and 
that the Holy Spirit, given in answer to prayer, 
renders the Gospel efficient and successful in the 
conversion of sinners. And as Jesus Christ is the 
universal and all sufficient savior of sinners, so 
also they believe He is the only Savior, and that if 
men believe not in him, they will "die in their 
sins," and that the " wicked will be turned into 
Hell, with all the nations that forget God." 

This is a concise statement in Scripture lan- 
guage of the sentiments of those whom the author 
has so grievously caricatured, and entertaining 



94 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

these opinions, they pray for the "gift of the Holy 
Spirit," which is promised to all them that ask, 
and by a " revival of religion," they mean only 
fliat this Spirit and His influences are given for the 
awakening or conviction of sinners, for the con- 
version of penitents, and for the sanctification of 
believers. The progress of this " work of God, " 
is what they call a revival, when many prove 
these Scriptures that " God has sent forth the Spi- 
rit of His Son into their hearts ;" the " Spirit of God 
witnesses with their spirits that they are the chil- 
dren of God ;" His " love is shed abroad in their 
hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto them." The 
evidences by which the revival is known to be by 
the " special influence of the Holy Ghost " are 
these : " If any man be in Christ, he is a new crea- 
ture, old things are passed away and all things 
are become new." "If any man have not the 
Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." " He that 
believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in 
himself." " He that is born of God doth not com- 
mit sin." " He that committeth sin is of the devil." 
" As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they 
are the children of God." 

The reader cannot fail to discover that in this 
brief narrative of the Scriptural doctrines of those 
who, with " Edwards and Wesley," believe in 
"revivals of religion" as resulting from the " spe- 
cial influence of the Holy Spirit," there is not the 
least shadow of authority for the vile caricature 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 95 

drawn by the author, whose malignity, imputes 
to Christian men and ministers "views," which 
he professes to have " selected from their wri- 
tings," and in which he affirms that " those who far 
vor revivals generally concur," which, we shudder 
to repeat it, plainly imply the most impious " blas- 
phemy against the Holy Ghost." That the reader 
may be in possession of the horrible and revolting- 
opinions, which are falsely imputed to " innu- 
merable clergymen," and to " all who favor revi- 
vals," we present as nearly as possible in the au- 
thor's language, the following summary of this fic- 
titious creed, condensed from various parts of the 
chapter, so that it may be seen at one view in all 
its hideous deformity. 

He charges all such with believing that " a very 
small number of Protestants are affected by the 
special influence of the Holy Spirit, and none other 
can be saved, and that no human being of the seven 
hundred millions of the human race can escape 
indescribable torments in hell forever, unless this 
special influence is imparted ! That the Omnipo- 
tent Being created for his own good pleasure all 
these suffering mortals, and by withholding this 
influence of the Holy Spirit from them, innumera- 
ble millions of beings created in the image of God 
himself, are doomed to unutterable misery ! That 
this Divine influence, absolutely essential for 
man's salvation, is only imparted occasionally to 
a few individuals of one sect, or religious congre- 
gation, at a time, and even these revivals of reli" 



96 REVIEW OF DR. BRiaHAM. 

gion are not always genuine, though caused by 
the special influence of the Holy Spirit ! That this 
influence has been withheld from the myriads of 
human beings who have lived, and is now impart- 
ed only to a few of the immense number of man- 
kind on the globe, while without it no human be- 
ing can escape indescribable torments in hell for- 
ever !" and besides all this compound of inconsis- 
tency and profanity, and much more too scanda- 
lous to detail, he accuses these Christian men and 
ministers with relying on certain "feelings" as the 
conclusive evidence of the " piesence and agency 
of the Spirit of God," and with believing that 
" outcries, fallings, convulsions' 5 and all the " out- 
ward signs" spoken of in revivals, together with 
" every species of wild fanaticism," are invaria- 
bly the effect of divine influence. To all such 
allegations against religion, its doctrines, its minis- 
ters, and professors, we here enter our solemn 
protest in the face of heaven and earth, and leave 
their fabricator with the brand of a calumniator, 
burned into him, by his own hardihood and folly. 
Having thus disposed of the general slanders of 
the author, we proceed to a further exposure of 
the misrepresentations and falsehoods with which 
this book abounds. In the doctrinal exhibit we 
have given of the sentiments of the advocates of 
revivals, it will be perceived that there is nothing 
of "gifts of tongues and spirit of prophecy," nor 
do we find any authority for charging upon those 



REVIEW OF DR. BR1GHAM. 97 

who hold these Bible doctrines, either " convul- 
sions, fallings, outcries, dreams, visions," and the 
like, nor can any of the " wild fanaticism," de- 
scribed as their' s, find any show of justification 
from the sentiments we have attributed to those 
Christians who believe in the special influence 
of the Holy Spirit and in revivals. Nevertheless, 
we may readily admit, that a genuine revival is 
often accompanied with external features, which, 
though they may appear to be fanatical to such 
lookers on as the author, are not by any means to 
be justly so considered. For instance, the author 
maintains that "solemn and anxious feelings," 
" sorrow for sin," "trembling," " weeping," and 
" feeling differently from what they ever did be- 
fore," " turning pale," and " audible sobbing and 
sighing," are all evidences of " wild fanaticism ;" 
and that those who believe in any of these effects 
being produced by the spirit of God, cannot con- 
sistently deny any measure of extravagance and 
folly which may be ascribed to the same agency. 
If this be not a specimen of " wild fanaticism" in 
the author, we know not where it is to be found. 

Let us try these extravagancies, as they are 
called, by the teachings of inspiration, and by the 
dictates of reason and common sense. Were 
there no " solemn and anxious feelings" when, 
under the preaching of the Apostles, the multitude 
inquired — " men and brethren what shall we do ?" 

Was there no " sorrow for sin, trembling, weep- 

9 



9S REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

ing," &c, when Peter M went out and wept bitter- 
ly, 1 ' or when "Mary washed the Master's feet 
with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of 
her head ?" And if it be not unscriptural, is it 
unreasonable that men should, under the influence 
of enlightened views impressed upon their con- 
sciences, feel and act thus ? Supposing it to be 
true, that the spirit of God convinces a sinner of 
his guilt and danger, as taught in the w r ord of 
God, is it wild fanaticism that he should tremble, 
and weep, and pray, even audibly, for that mercy 
and forgiveness which he needs ? And when, 
as often occurs in revivals, careless, hardened, and 
impious sinners, are suddenly brought to discover 
the enormity of their wickedness, is it to be con- 
demned as extravagance that such feelings as re- 
morse of conscience occasions, should " affect the 
mind and agitate the body?" And yet this and 
the like, is what the author calls " religious excite- 
ment," which is to be condemned as " wild fanati- 
cism," and calculated to produce disease and 
death. 

That instances of inexcusable extravagance, 
and even consummate folly, are sometimes exhi- 
bited in connexion with " revivals of religion," is 
not denied, indeed the author has industriously, 
and with a zeal worthy of a better cause, collected 
examples of this character, truly humiliating to 
our species, and calculated to disparage revivals, 
and disgrace those who participated in such folly. 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 99 

These, however, so far from showing the " influ- 
ence of religion," as he designs they shall, are 
only the excrescences which deform and disfigure 
revivals, and there may be, and often is, no reli- 
gion in them. He may attribute them to sympathy, 
to animal magnetism, or to hypocrisy itself. We will 
give him all such examples as he can find through- 
out Christendom, to glut the buzzard appetite of 
those who can feast on the solitary carcasses which 
here and there defile the vast field of moral 
beauty and loveliness, which true "revivals of 
religion" have spread out, in the face of heaven 
and earth, and the fruits of which are seen in the 
radical reformation of the profligate and abandon- 
ed, living epistles, " not written with ink on tables 
of stone, but on fleshly tables of the heart, by the 
finger of the living God." 

The striking infatuation of the author's mind, 
maybe seen in the attempt he makes to disparage 
the intellectual character of the holy men of whom 
he speaks, as for example, he accuses President 
Edwards of "a strong tendency to fanaticism in 
early life ;" and against John Wesley he brings 
the same formidable objection, "He early exhi- 
bited a tendency to fanaticism" and he classes 
these gifted and evangelical men, together with 
Whitfield, among " religious enthusiasts and fana- 
tics," and talks of their " early enthusiasm having 
increased to extravagant fanaticism !" Who that is 
acquainted with the history of these men of God, 

LofC. 



100 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

can fail to be amazed at the temerity and depra- 
vity which is implied in such injustice and censo- 
riousness. 

Having alluded to the spirit of unkindness and 
unfairness with which Edwards is treated by the 
author, we are here called to notice a similar 
want of candor towards Mr. Wesley. From the 
works of that great and good man, a narrative of 
a "revival of religion" is selected, which, because 
it was extraordinary in many of its features, is de- 
tailed by Wesley with great minuteness. The 
reader, who is not acquainted with the history of 
the labors of that distinguished and successful 
minister, might conclude, from this detached quo- 
tation, that the "outcries, falling," &c, here de- 
scribed, were common and frequent attendant cir- 
cumstances upon his preaching, and that Mr. W. 
regarded these as essential to a revival. Indeed, all 
the accounts given in this book, are such as de- 
scribed irregularities, unusual in their occurrence, 
and are by no means regarded by the narrators as 
necessary, or even characteristic of revivals. 
Such, however, is the impression this book is 
designed to make, for no instance of the " spe- 
cial influence of the Holy Spirit" is here referred 
to, except only such as can be made to serve the 
purpose of identifying revivals with "extrava- 
gance" and wild " fanatacism." This is especi- 
ally the case in the allusions made to Mr. Wesley 
and the Methodists, when, if "to elicit truth" 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 101 

had indeed been the author's desire, he would 
have been constrained to state the fact, which 
must have been known to him, that Mr. W. was 
in the midst of " revivals" for more than half a 
century, preaching the gospel in various parts of 
the United Kingdom, and in other countries, pro- 
claiming the doctrine of the " special influence 
of the Holy Spirit," and with a success in the 
conversion and reformation of tens of thousands, 
scarcely equalled since the days of the apostles. 
And yet the extravagances complained of were 
exceedingly rare, multitudes who were converted 
under his ministry, giving no examples of wild 
fanaticism. Occasional!}', however, instances did 
occur, in which circumstances such as those de- 
scribed took place under his ministry, and that of 
his fellow-laborers, but no one can read his jour- 
nals, as the author professes to have done, without 
perceiving that Mr. W. often records them as a 
faithful historian, not with a view of approving 
them, but accompanying the narrative with his 
doubts on some occasions, and in others attribut- 
ing them to sympathy, animal feeling, fanaticism, 
and even hypocrisy. Indeed, he not unfrequent- 
ly warned the people against them, attributing 
certain examples he names, to the influence of 
Satan, who designed to bring into disrepute the 
genuine work of the Spirit of God upon the hearts 
of men. 

We inquire, then, is it fair, or candid, or ho- 

9* 



102 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

nest, to select these incidental circumstances, 
which constitute no part of a " revival," and 
which, in some instances, were attributed to the 
devil, by Wesley, and the other ministers who re- 
cord them, and insist that these are true descrip- 
tions of the " influence of religion," examples of 
the " effects of the Holy Spirit." The reader 
cannot fail to perceive, that by such a course the 
author has forfeited all claim either to confidence 
or respect. For not only Edwards and Wesley 
are thus foully misrepresented to suit his unhal" 
lowed purpose, but Whitfield, Rev. Dr. Alexan- 
der, Dr. Humphreys, Dr. Sprague, Mr. Finney, 
and others, receive no better justice at his hands. 
Nor would the reader suppose, from aught thai 
this book contains, that these " semi-crazy enthu- 
siasts" condemned enthusiasm and fanaticism, 
even preaching and writing against some of the 
precise extra\ agancies of which he complains, 
and which he labors to impress the reader, are 
essential features in "revivals," and proofs of the 
mischievous and unhealthy " influence of re- 
ligion." 

Indeed, he maintains that no one can consis- 
tently deny, that "the Spirit of God produces 
outcries, tremblings, convulsions, fallings, dreams, 
visions, the gift of tongues, spirit of prophecy, 
and all that the most wild fanatics from the ear- 
liest ages, down to Irving, Pierson and Matthias, 
have claimed," while at the same time professing 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 103 

to believe in "the special presence of the Holy 
Spirit, in revivals !" If this be not puerile, pre- 
posterous and absurd, we know not where these 
attributes are discernible in all the sophistry we 
have ever met with. He asks, in a strain of mock 
triumph, " Who can point out the dividing line in 
the conduct of those who claim to be actuated by 
the special influence of God, and say which con- 
duct is caused by the Holy Spirit and which is 
not ?" This interrogatory will convince the reader, 
that the author might have found an example of 
11 wild fanaticism," without travelling from home, 
since he could have beheld its unconscious victim 
if he would but have approached his mirror. His 
arrogant question finds an easy solution, when we 
tell him that the Scriptures are our " infallible rule 
of faith and practice," and by these we may ordi- 
narily decide, even in doubtful or difficult cases. 
But in the instances of "wild fanaticism," he 
names, the merest tyro in the knowledge of the 
Bible, could solve the problem with absolute cer- 
tainty, without denying, as he does, that " God 
has any supernatural dealings with men." The 
creed of the author, as we have seen, is, that there 
is no medium, either there is no such thing as the 
11 special influence of the Spirit," or all who claim 
it, however visionary and extravagant, must be 
relied on with implicit confidence. His article of 
religion on this subject is formed irrespective of 
the Bible, else he would have known that the 



104 REVIEW OF DR. BRiaHAM. 

" sure word of prophecy" commands us to " try 
the spirits, whether they be of God," warns us of 
" evil spirits and false prophets, who lie in wait to 
deceive," and furnishes the criterion by which 
we may infallibly know " whether the spirits be 
of God." His ignorance of the Bible must plead 
his apology in this instance-, also, for it is the only 
mantle broad enough to protect him from the 
charge of foul moral delinquency. 

After such a course of sophistry and rhodomon- 
tade as we have just noticed, the author says, 
" Here then I rest the argument ! and maintain, 
that whatever serves to prove that the special 
presence of the Spirit of God induces awful solem- 
nity, and is evinced t>y the flowing tear, will 
serve to prove that some of the most fanatical 
conduct the world has ever known was owing to 
the special influence of the Holy Spirit of God !" 
Let us see, then, how this " argument rests," 
though we might rely upon the fact, that it is ob- 
viously a non sequitur. But waiving this, as he 
" rests the argument here," we maintain that the 
Holy Bible proves, that the special presence of 
God induces " awful solemnity * and the flowing 
tear," and when we shall show this by one or 
two out of ten thousand citations which might be 
made, we convict the author of profanely affirm- 
ing, that the Bible proves that the " most fana- 
tical conduct the world has ever known, was pro- 
duced by the Spirit of God !" To prove that 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 105 

" awful solemnity" results from the presence of 
God, we refer the author to the exclamation of 
Jacob, " And he was afraid, and said, surely God 
is in this place and I knew it not, How dread- 
ful is this place," &c, antfif the New Testament 
authorities suit him better let him contemplate the 
" awful solemnity" of that scene, when the disci- 
ples exclaimed, " Master it is good for us to be 
here," or when Saul fell beneath the " awful so- 
lemnity" which " affected his body and agitated 
his mind," and led him to exclaim, " Lord what 
wilt thou have me to do." 

And as the " flowing tear" gives our author 
great offence, and he stoutly repudiates the idea, 
that this evinces the presence of the Holy Spirit, 
we would again refer him to the weeping of the 
woman whose sins were forgiven at the house of 
Simon, to the tears of Peter, when the Spirit of 
God convicted him of his apostacy, &c. 

But these will suffice to establish the position, 
that the author's logic impiously charges upon the 
Bible, the " wildest fanaticism the world has ever 
known:" and here we "leave him alone in his 
glory," and proceed to notice the attempt next 
made to ascribe the results attributed to the Spirit 
of God, to natural causes, which, he maintains, 
will account for them all. And we barely remark, 
that there is not, to our apprehension, in the uni- 
verse of God, an object of purer fanaticism, more 
deserving of the pity of angels and of men, than 



106 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGIIAM. 

a man standing unawed into solemnity, and un- 
moved to contrition, before his Omnipotent Maker ! 
How deep the moral infatuation which can scoff, 
deride, and even sneer at the emotions which 
spontaneously spring up in the hearts of those who 
realize the presence of the invisible Jehovah ! 

First of all, the author perceives a striking re- 
semblance between the " work of God," a phrase 
which he significantly quotes, in frequent and 
vain repetition, and which his peculiar fanaticism, 
scarcely names, but with a sneer, and the symp- 
toms of nervous diseases, such as hysterics, con- 
vulsions, frenzy and insanity." But as this theory- 
does not gratify his malice, he adds, that there is 
a striking analogy between the effects of " revi- 
vals" and witchcraft I They are promoted, he 
says, by the same means. " So long as people 
talk about ghosts, apparitions and witches, so long 
will people see them, and to prevent witchcraft, 
it is only necessary to cease talking of witches." 
And then, he adds, with imperturbable gravity, 
u So it may be with religious feelings /" The reader 
should remember that the author professes to be a 
" Christian," having a " profound respect for the 
religious sentiment." And yet he proceeds to at- 
tribute every kind and degree of religious excite- 
ment to the same causes which produce a belief 
in ghosts and witches, and demonstrates that he 
believes all spiritual experience to be wholly de- 
lusive and imaginary. 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM, 107 

Not satisfied, however, himself with his own 
explanation of this difficult subject, he proceeds 
to ascribe these extravagances to the " influence 
of a powerful or singularly endowed preacher, 
whose eloquence^ like that of Whitfield and Wesley, 
leads the immense multitude to be passive instru- 
ments in his hands." Indeed, under such circum- 
stances the author thinks that in large assemblies the 
feelings and actions, like certain other fevers, be- 
come contagious. And to sustain this latter opinion 
he alludes to the French prophets, as a sect of 
trembling and convulsed enthusiasts were called, 
who appear to have suffered under the disease, 
called Chorea Sancti Viti, and which is known to 
be propagated by a propensity to imitation, and 
which under certain circumstances, has been 
thought contagious. He also introduces " demo- 
niac possession" among the causes of similar ex- 
citements and delusions, but as he finds " the 
special presence and agency of the devil but rare- 
ly mentioned in the accounts of modern revivals, 
he thinks it probable that the belief of his agency 
in human affairs will soon pass away." 

But he proceeds to explain all that is "myste- 
rious and miraculous" in modern revivals, by the 
phenomena of the stupid imposture denominated 
" animal magnetism," and this he does in the same 
style of vulgarity and sarcasm employed by the 
infidel writers whom he quotes. And as these 
have, over and again been answered and refuted, 



108 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

we need not detain the reader with any farther 
notice of this ridiculous conceit. 

We shall, therefore, briefly consider the conclu- 
sions to which the author professes to arrive in the 
close of this long chapter. The first is, that " the 
outward signs and visible appearances spoken of 
in revivals may have other caused than the Spirit 
of God." This we readily admit, and with the 
knowledge of this fact, the author is inexcusable 
for pretending to ascribe these effects to religion 
as though no other causes resulted in " affecting 
the mind and agitating the body." The outward 
signs of which, he complains so hideously, be- 
cause injurious to health when excited by reli- 
gious emotion, awaken no anxiety when they pro- 
ceed from other causes, against which his spleen 
has not been directed. But the author has neither 
the manliness nor the honesty to record, what he 
knows the truth required of him, that these out- 
ward signs and visible appearances, are, so far 
from being regarded by Christians as invariably 
the effect of the Spirit of God, that even the warm 
advocates of revivals look upon them as suspi- 
cious, and by no means confide in the experience 
of such, unless constrained to do so by that moral 
revolution of the life, which is invariably the re- 
sult of regeneration. 

The second sage conclusion to which the reader 
is brought in this chapter, is, that " it will not do 
to rely on feelings, as evidence of the presence and 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 109 

agency of the spirit of God," else we " must ad- 
mit the claims of Mr. Irving and numerous other 
wild fanatics to inspiration." Here is a truth to 
which the most strenuous Christian heartily sub- 
scribes ; and it is because no friend of revivals 
ever did " rely on feelings as such evidence," that 
the pretensions of all such fanatics as he names 
are detected and denied. But the deliberate de- 
sign of the author obviously is, to impose upon 
the reader this false and malicious creed, as the 
undoubted belief of those who speak of the spe- 
cial presence of the Holy Spirit in revivals. 
There are times when it were treason to truth and 
justice, to withhold the expression of a holy in- 
dignation against outrages upon common decency ; 
and we are constrained to say, that this is an in- 
stance in which the author has degraded himself 
beneath contempt. 

We pass to his third inference, in which, he 
assserts, '* positively " mhis usual style of italicised 
dogmatism, that "the Holy Scriptures do not war- 
rant us in believing that modern revivals are caus- 
ed by the special outpouring of the spirit of God ;" 
and he affirms this as certain, while he thinks it 
possible they " may be so construed as to partially 
justify the opinions of Mr. Irving." And here 
we are constrained to say, that the author exhibits 
no great excess of modesty in pronouncing posi- 
tively and certainly, in relation to the testimony of 

the Holy Scriptures, when he has already mani- 

10 



110 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

fested, so palpably, his ignorance of their contents; 
and more especially, when his opinions conflict 
with those of the most profoundly learned among 
the scholars of the old and new world. But he 
will pardon us, when we object to his qualifications 
to judge in relation to modern revivals, after 
having failed in his book to enlighten his readers 
in reference to their true character. He has 
drawn a vile caricature, which he calls a " modern 
revival ;" and he persuades himself into the stu- 
pid notion that the " outward signs" he describes, 
are the effect of certain " feelings" which he ima- 
gines ; and then he is so silly as to believe that 
Christians regard both these " outward signs and 
inward feelings," as the evidences of the special 
agency of the Holy Spirit. Now, having built 
this man of straw, he goes on a Quixotic crusade 
against his windmill, and with consummate stu- 
pidity, felicitates himself on having made a 
magnificent conquest. If the subject were not 
too serious, we might yield to the temptation to 
satirize his ludicrous position ; but, however tempt- 
ing, we must forbear. 

4thly. He enquires — "Does the 4 fruit' of these 
revivals force us to believe that nothing but the 
special iiifluence of the Holy Spirit causes them ?" 
To this sober question we might have expected, 
from any other than an infidel, a direct and sober 
answer ; but the author proceeds to hold up the 
wrangling and disputes of the same sect, and of 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. Ill 

different sects, and represents these and other 
" works of the flesh" as the " fruits of revivals ;" 
and this in the face of the facts known and read 
of all men, that these reprehensible disputes are 
universally alleged as hindrances to revivals 
wherever they exist. If he had been desiring, as 
he professes, to " elicit the truth," he would, in 
reply to his question, have given the known fruits 
of revivals, as described by the authors from 
whose works he has elsewhere quoted. We find 
on page 241 — 2 of his own book, that the fruits 
of revivals are described by Mr. Wesley, to be 
the " conversion of the drunkard, the whore- 
monger, the oppressor, the swearer, the sluggard, 
the miser, and prostitutes." And Mr. Finney is 
quoted on the same subject, as follows : " Very 
often the most abandoned profligates are among 
the subjects of revivals. Harlots and drunkards, 
and infidels, and all sorts of abandoned characters 
are awakened and converted. The worst part 
of human society are softened and reclaimed, and 
made to appear as lovely specimens of the beauty 
of holiness." 

These then are the " fruits of revivals," as 
quoted by the author, from the writings of their 
friends, whose experience and learning qualified 
them to judge correctly, and whose veracity is 
bejond reproach. Indeed, the author does not 
deny the facts, but alleges, that all these things 
"have often happened before;" and labours to 



112 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

account for them by blotting the name of God 
Almighty out of the Universe so far as in him 
lies. Here, however, we have the fruits after 

which he inquires ; and on these we rest the argu- 
ment. 

He may ascribe these results to " nervous dis- 
eases, witchcraft, demoniacal possession, eloquent 
ministers, or to animal magnetism ;" and so 
long as by any of these agents he can effect these 
moral wonders, we shall not forbid him to "cast 
out devils," because he follows not us ; but will 
rejoice in any instance of his success. Neverthe- 
less we will still believe and maintain that " there 
is no other name given among men by which we 
can be saved, but the name of Jesus Christ ;" and 
o his Spirit and its " special influence," we will 
still attribute the conversion of sinners, and the 
reformation of the profligate and abandoned. And 
while we unite with the author in denying that 
those who " manifest the works of the flesh" are 
" led by the Holy Spirit," whatever be their pre- 
tensions ; yet, we as positively deny that such are 
in whole or in part the "fruit" of either ancient 
or modern revivals ; and we are shocked at the 
hardihood under which he could make the insinu- 
ation. The " fruits of the Spirit," as described 
in the New Testament, "love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
and temperance," are those which must and do 
follow every genuine revival of religion ; and 



REVIEW OF BR. BRIGHAM. 113 

where these do not appear, or whatever may ac- 
company revivals contrary to, or incompatible 
with these, we utterly reject, and are willing that 
the author may attribute them to animal magnet- 
ism, or whatever other cause may suit his taste or 
philosophy. 

We have not forgotten, however, that the au- 
thor affirms, in the " introduction," that by the 
phrase " fruits of the Spirit," in the Scriptures, 
nothing more is meant than the natural results of 
the moral and intellectual powers of man ; and 
the apostolic catalogue is there repeated as result- 
ing from the " inherent moral powers," and not 
the fruit of any " supernatural gift." So, that if 
these " qualities" were universally the " fruit of 
revivals," in all the subjects, still, according to 
his theory, they would furnish no evidence of the 
special influence of the Holy Spirit, which he so 
pertinaciously denies. It would be useless, there- 
fore, to pursue this subject any farther, with so in- 
corrigible a sceptic. 

His last inquiry in this chapter, deserves a 
more particular notice — it is this : u Do the lives 
of those men of past ages — men illustrious for 
their piety — men who have been the foremost and 
ablest advocates of Christianity — men who have 
been the bulwarks of the Protestant religion — 
teach us that they were thus affected and con- 
verted ?" To this interroo-atorv, we give an une- 

quivocal affirmative answer ; and on the proof of 

10* 



114 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

this, we are willing to rest for the refutation of the 
author and his book, 

In the first place, then, we refer to the experi- 
ence of the Old Testament saints, as well as the 
conversion of the primitive disciples of Christ, as 
recorded in the New Testament. The Psalmist 
undoubtedly felt what the author calls an " affec- 
tion of the mind, and agitation of the body." At 
one time, he exclaims — " Against thee, and thee 
only, have I sinned, O God, and done this evil in 
thy sight ;" and again, " My soul is exceeding 
sorrowful*" " My tears are my meat and drink 
both day and night ;" " The sorrows of death com- 
passed me, the pains of hell got hold upon me, I 
found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the 
name of the Lord. Oh, Lord, I beseech thee de- 
liver my soul ;" " Cleanse thou me from secret 
faults;" "Take not thy Holy Spirit from ?ne ;" 
" Uphold me with thy free Spirit." Here we see 
clearly that David not only felt " awful solem- 
nity," but it was accompanied by great excite- 
ment, sorrow, pain, trouble, tears, prayers, and 
what is still more, he believed in the a special in- 
fluence of the Holy Spirit," which is the distin- 
guishing feature in modern revivals, and which the 
author represents as contrary to Scripture or 
reason. 

But let us turn to the New Testament, and we 
shall find numerous instances of similar affections 
of the mind and agitations of the body. The con- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 115 

version of St. Paul was attended with more ex- 
citement, emotion, and what the author calls ex- 
travagance and wild fanaticism, than ordinarily 
attends modern revivals, and that he taught and 
experienced the " special influence of the 
Spirit," it is hardly necessary to prove by cita- 
tions." If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, 
he is none of his." " The Spirit itself beareth 
witness with our spirits, that we are the children 
of God." And he speaks of it as the common 
privilege of Christians to be " sealed with the 
spirit," and " filled with the spirit," which cannot 
be understood to be any other than its " special in- 
fluence," as claimed in revivals. 

But to come to more modern times, we are 
content that this question may be decided by a few 
individuals out of the great multitude, which no 
man can number, who will be witnesses before the 
throne, in that day " for which all other days were 
made." Edwards, Wesley, Whitfield, Baxter, 
and others whom he names, would be rejected by 
the author as incompetent witnesses, because of 
their fanaticism, but David and Paul, and the 
whole testimony of inspiration, are all under the 
same condemnation. Newton, and Watson, and 
Payson, and Robert Hall, and John Mason Good, 
were all so fanatical, in his estimation, that though 
he appeals to the experience of such men, " as 
have been the ablest advocates of Christianity," 
yet he dares to do so, only because he is ignorant 



116 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

of their history ; for all, all such are against his 
creed, and none but infidels will be found, who 
deny the " special agency of the Holy Spirit," in 
the regeneration and salvation of the soul. Paley, 
whom the author quotes, has been so often and so 
ably disposed of, that it is needless to reply to his 
speculations, some of which are both ridiculous 
and absurd, and for this reason they readily assi- 
milate with the creed and philosophy of Dr. 
Brigham. 

Having thus followed the author throughout 
this long chapter, we proceed to the next, which 
is more professional, and treats of the injury of 
the brain and nervous system, from frequent meet- 
ings and religious excitements ; the increase of cer- 
tain diseases from these causes — and concludes 
with special advice to the ladies and to clergy- 
men. 

And first of all we have a very learned descrip- 
tion, anatomical, physiological, pathological, and 
phrenological of the human brain, in which he as- 
sumes, First, that the brain is the organ by which 
the mind acts, a truism which no one doubts, and 
in relation to which he might have spared the os- 
tentatious display of authorities to substantiate it. 
His inferences, however, from this undisputed 
fact, are profoundly stupid, as we shall presently 
have occasion to show, 

His second assumption is purely such, though he 
calls it a well established position, susceptible of 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 117 

positive proof. It is this, that " all excitement of 
the mind increases the action of the brain." This 
doctrine is anatomically and physiologically false, 
nor is there, among his pretended " proofs," a sin- 
gle instance of even the semblance of evidence 
in its favor. It is not proved, nor can it ever be 
shown to be at all probable, even by analogy, that 
" the brain, or that nervous mass contained within 
the skull," is capable of action of any kind. And 
the reader will perceive, by examining the cases 
referred to by the author, that they are wholly ir- 
relevant, though for the purpose of imposing upon 
popular credulity, they are adroitly and plausibly 
urged as direct and conclusive evidence. 

For example, he says, " sometimes when the 
mental excitement is very great, instant death is 
produced from the rupture of a blood-vessel in the 
brain, causing apoplexy." This is his first testi- 
mony in proof of the " action of thebrain" when 
there is demonstrably no action of any kind in the 
brain, or that " nervous mass which occupies the 
skull ;" but only an " increased action in the 
heart and circulating system, by which more blood 
is sent to the head than can be sustained," and these 
are his own words on the succeeding page, and 
they explain the pathological truth, not only of 
the case here named, but of all the examples he 
gives of death occasioned by anger, fear, grief 
and joy, or other excessive mental emotions. 
That the author himself understands this subject 



118 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

correctly, is evident from his ascribing the flushed 
countenance, in such examples, to an " increased 
rush of blood to the head," which he cannot but 
know is the result of the vis a tergo in the heart, 
and not in the brain. If there was any conceiva- 
ble action performed by the brain, it would be in 
offering resistance to this " rush of blood," in ac- 
cordance with a fundamental law of nature, in 
which the different organs of the body are endow- 
ed with this power for their own protection. In- 
stead of which, however, in all the true examples 
he cites, the mental emotion increases the action 
of the heart, and the blood rushes to the brain with 
increased velocity, while this organ, instead of 
being active is perfectly passive, as in the apoplexy 
which follows, and in which the pressure upon the 
brain, produced by the effused blood, paralyzes 
that organ mechanically, as any other foreign body, 
so that sudden death is produced. Such is the 
truth in the case, as every pathological authority 
he names unitedly prove, and as dissection univer- 
sally demonstrates. 

It is as idle, then, to pretend that ."all excite- 
ment of the mind increases the action of the 
brain" as it would be superlative folly to affirm, 
that mental excitement increases the action of the 
nose, when epistaxis, or bleeding from this organ 
occurs, under such circumstances, which is by no 
means unfrequent, and universally salutary, be- 
cause hemorrhage in the brain is thus prevented. 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 119 

Or,, indeed, the author might with equal propriety- 
assert, that emotions of the mind increase the ac- 
tion of the stomach or bowels, the kidneys or bladdery 
for abundant proofs are on record, in which the 
excessive indulgence of the stimulating passions of 
anger or joy, has produced excessive and even fatal 
hemorrhages from these several organs, and the 
depressing passions of grief and fear have been 
followed, when inordinately indulged, by exten- 
sive secretions and excretions from each of these 
portions of the body. And the flow of tears, which 
is involuntary and uncontrollable in almost all 
cases of intemperate mental emotions, might af- 
ford him equal authority for the axiom, that all ex- 
citement of the mind increases the action of the 
eyes, or the lachrymal apparatus appended to them 
But he knows very well that all these arise from 
the increased action of the heart, and there is no 
action of the brain in any case, other than the pas- 
sive action, if it may be so called, of transmitting 
through the nerves, the stimulating or depressing 
mental cause to the heart, and this organ is that, 
the increased action of which produces apoplexy 
and death, either by distending the vessels of the 
brain until they rupture and empty their blood 
into the cavity of the skull, or by their distention 
alone, as is sometimes the case, producing the 
same result. 

The same may be said of the example he 
names of sudden death in public speakers, during 



120 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

their bursts of eloquence, which he falsely ascribes 
to mental exertion and the action of the brain, 
when he ought to know that all such cases arise 
from physical exertion, not mental, as in the impas- 
sioned efforts which accompany these bursts of 
eloquence. In all such instances the increased 
action of the heart, and not oj the brain is the cause 
of the mischief. 

The citations from Astley Cooper, Broussais, 
and Blumenbach, are striking illustrations for our 
purpose, since what they record as evidence of 
the action of the heart, Dr. Brigham gratuitously 
attributes to the fiction of his phrenological theo- 
ry, the "action of the brain." They speak of 
mental and moral causes having increased the 
" pulsations of the brain, 9 ' and having resulted in 
"engorgement of blood," and even "inflammation 
of the brain," but they never dreamed that these 
arose from any other action than the action of the 
heart and blood vessels. 

The reader may now correctly appreciate the 
opinions of the author when he urges an analogy 
between the effect of religious excitement in in- 
creasing the " action of the brain," and the influ- 
ence of ardent spirits upon the stomach ; and he 
infers this analogical doctrine, and, indeed, says, 
" it must be true, if it be true that the brain is the 
organ on which the mind acts." This ridiculous 
sophism is exposed from the obvious consideration 
that there can be no parallel in the cases. In the 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 121 

one, the stimulus acts not only upon the heart, but 
directly upon the stomach itself; and this action 
is mechanical and chemical ; while in the case of 
mental and religious excitement, there is no other 
action than that of the heart, and the series of 
consecutive effects which result from an increased 
circulation of the blood. Whatever else the au- 
thor may imagine religion to be, he can never per- 
suade even himself into the notion, that it can be 
a mechanical and chemical irritating fluid upon the 
brain, as ardent spirit is upon the stomach, when 
introduced into that organ. It is true there is a 
striking analogy in his morbidly perturbed mind, 
since he proposes the same remedy for intempe- 
rance in religion, as philanthropists recommend in 
reference to ardent spirits ; for, if the maxims of 
his book are obeyed, total abstinence from religion 
would be the only course for the security of the 
" health and physical welfare of mankind." 

The next position of the author is, that " insani- 
ty, epilepsy, convulsions, organic affections of the 
heart, and many of the most dangerous deseases" 
are " caused by mental excitement increasing the 
momentum of blood to the brain !" Mark, not " the 
action of the brain," but the action of the heart ; 
for this alone, as we have seen, can produce an 
increase of the " momentum of blood" to any 
organ. The author finds it convenient or expe- 
dient to save his professional reputation at the 
expense of phrenology, in this as in other cases. 

11 



122 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

We design to convince the reader, in these brief 
hints, that insanity, when it arises from mental or 
moral causes, which is sometimes the case, is 
uniformly attributed by the author to what he calls 
the "increased action of the brain," which im- 
plies, and takes this for granted, that there is an 
action performed by that organ in health, and that 
the increase of it constitutes the disease. This 
is a dogma of phrenology ; but is both unfounded 
and irrational, since the structure of the brain, so 
far from affording the least indication of a capa- 
city for action, ought to satisfy any observer that 
it is merely an organ of transmission, and not of 
action, since for this latter it has no adaptation. 
The office of the brain, and for which it is adapt- 
ed with consummate skill, as seen in the appara- 
tus of nerves emanating from it, and which are 
the channels through which mental emotions and 
sensations are conveyed to the different portions 
of the body, is justly expressed by the author when 
he says, it is " the organ on which the mind acts" 
thus admitting that the brain is acted on by the 
mind, not that itself performs any act. And yet, 
by a strange incoherency and inconsistencj^, he is 
found insisting, in the same paragraph, upon the 
" action of the brain," and explaining the rationale 
of insanity, by the inordinate degree of this action, 
which he says results from " mental or religious 
excitement." And yet he soon forgets this phre- 
nological theory, and records that " in cases of in- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 123 

sanity there are always found, upon dissection, 
visible marks of disease and disorganization of the 
structure of the brain." 

Here we have the pathological fact, admitted by 
himself, which explodes his whole theory, by 
furnishing the key to unlock the mystery by which 
he is so sadly puzzled ; and, by this single fact, 
the modus operandi of the mind in cases of insani- 
ty, is shown to be dependent on a very different 
cause, from any real or imaginary " action of the 
brain." We need none of the lights of phrenolo- 
gy, or indeed those of any other " science, falsely 
so called," to aid us in so plain an inquiry. Com- 
mon sense will enable us to decide, that if " the 
brain is the organ on which the mind acts," any 
morbid alteration in the structure of this organ, 
will necessarily result in irregular action, not of 
the organ, but of the mind, which is obliged to 
act on a diseased or defective organ. Hence, in- 
sanity, by whatever cause it may appear to origi- 
nate, is a disease purely physical, and is, by wise 
men, uniformly ascribed to disease in " the organ 
on which the mind acts ;" and it is irrational and 
absurd to prate, as the author does, about the 
" action of the brain." But we shall have occa- 
sion to revert again to this subject, and we there- 
fore proceed. 

After a grave attempt to prove that insanity is a 
disease of the brain, and not a malady affecting 
the immaterial, immortal mind itself, which no 



124 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

one but an idiot or a materialist ever soberly ima- 
gined, we have it affirmed that it invariably arises 
from mental or moral causes. This absurd and 
ridiculous statement of the author, betrays a 
recklessness of truth, and a contempt for medical 
authorities, which, if his hopeless ignorance of the 
subject does not palliate, must imply moral de- 
linquency of the most deplorable kind. Indeed, 
the plea of ignorance will scarcely avail him, 
since the reports of the Connecticut Retreat for 
the Insane, an institution located in his own city, 
and with which he professes an acquaintance, 
most conclusively refute all he has written. From 
the tenth Annual Report, now before us, it will be 
seen, that of the one hundred and sixteen cases 
of mania and melancholy, including insanity of 
every form, in the Hartford Asylum, more than 
one-third are either attributed to " hereditary 
or constitutional" causes, or are set down " un- 
known," there being no suspicion of mental or 
moral excitement in either of them. The rest 
are variously ascribed to the following physical 
causes, viz. " intemperance, dyspepsia, puerperal 
fever, repelled eruptions, insolation, onanism, ill- 
health, intermittent fever, liver complaint, amen- 
orrhoea, menorrhagia, leucorrhoea, epilepsy, par- 
alysis, inflammation of the bowels, licentiousness, 
and excessive bodily exertion." These are the 
various causes, purely physical, which have re- 
sulted in insanity, and when the hereditary and 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 125 

constitutional cases are added, they will be found 
to constitute a large majority of the cases, not only 
in this institution, but in every similar one, where 
investigation into the causes is made with any 
degree of accuracy. It is true that this report, 
in enumerating the supposed remote and exciting 
causes, attributes a considerable number of the 
cases to grief, disappointment, and other mental 
causes, yet, out of the one hundred and sixteen 
cases, only seven are even suspected to be in any 
wise connected with religious excitement or anxi- 
ety, and this is itself a palpable contradiction of 
Dr. Bri^ham and his book. 

In the first place, he maintains that insanity 
uniformly arises from mental and moral excite- 
ment, and quotes, with approbation, the testimony 
of a French infidel, who says, that " those causes 
which tend to derange the brain, by the very exer- 
cise of its own functions, are the most frequent, naj r , 
almost the only causes capable of producing mental 
alienation." This is a virtual denial of the fact 
which universal observation and experience will 
demonstrate, that nearly all the insane are here- 
ditarily predisposed to this malady by physical 
causes ; though, as is well known, it is exceeding- 
ly difficult to obtain from the friends of patients, 
this humiliating and disreputable confession, as it 
is regarded ; for to conceal a family predisposi- 
tion to this dreadful disease, is natural and for the 

sake of others, in some cases, it may be laudable. 

11* 



126 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

And this denial of the author is made by a strange 
fatuity, in the face of the truth, which he himself 
attests by numerous authorities, that " thickening 
of the skull, organic alteration of the brain, and 
other changes of structure are always found in the 
heads of insane people upon dissection." Surely 
whatever stress he may be disposed to place upon 
the u action of the brain" which he imagines to be 
the result of mental emotion and excitement, he 
can scarcely deceive himself into the opinion that 
" thickening of the skull" is thus produced, for this 
theory would explode his whole phrenological fa- 
bric, and annihilate his favorite " science of 
bumps." 

But we next find him maintaining that while 
mental excitement on any subject may produce 
insanity, there is " especial" danger from the 
subject of " religion /" Indeed, he declares that 
"in all ages religion has been one of the most 
fruitful sources of the disease !" And this inexcu- 
sable and henious outrage upon historical truth, he 
attempts to bolster by kindred authorities. For 
its ample and conclusive refutation, the reader 
need only refer to the facts contained in the report 
to which we have just alluded, wherein he will 
discover that there are but seven, out of one hun- 
dred and sixteen cases of insanity in the Hartford 
Asylum, which are even supposed to be caused by 
this " most fruitful source of the disease." Only 
one-seventeenth of the examples, if this be, as we 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 127 

suppose, a fair average, can possibly be attribu- 
ted to religion, directly or indirectly ; and a large 
majority of them are distinctly ascribed, in the 
report, to physical causes, in which religious and 
mental excitement cannot possibly have had any 
share. And yet, with these demonstrations in his 
own city, and under his own eye, the author does 
not scruple, for the support of his theory, to make 
assertions which are as utterly at variance with 
truth, as with every species of medical philoso- 
phy- 

The report to which reference is had, is select- 
ed because of its being issued in Hartford, where 
the author resides, and not because of any singu- 
lar or peculiar adaptation to our purpose. Simi- 
lar documents from any of the Asylums for the 
Insane, in our own and other countries, present 
the same facts, and many of them in a still 
stronger light. Dr. Benjamin Rush in his valua- 
ble work on " Diseases of the Mind," not only be- 
clares that in the Pennsylvania Hospital the cases 
were very rare which were ascribed to religion, 
however remotely, and these invariably to " erro- 
neous opinions in religion ;** but they were, for 
the most part, temporary, and peculiarly suscep- 
tible of cure ; and recent inquiries of one of the 
most extensive practitioners in the city of Phila- 
delphia, whose opportunities in the management 
of insanity have probably equalled those of any 
other on the continent, have elicited the opinion 



128 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

that not one in fifty cases, can be ascribed to re- 
ligion ; and he never saw one such, but it was 
found to have occurred in a constitution heredita- 
rily predisposed to the malady. In the Bloom- 
ingdale Asylum, near New York, observations 
accurately made upon all the cases which have 
been received from the commencement of the in- 
stitution, have convinced the able and estimable 
physician of the house, that not more than one in 
forty can be referred to religion as its source, 
however remotely. Indeed, so far from religion 
being among "the most fruitful sources of insan- 
ity, 5 ' it must be conceded by all whose intelligence 
and candor are led to investigate the subject, that 
if the disease has ever been produced by religious 
excitement, which is very possible, that such cases 
are very rare, proportionably to other causes. 
And the fact that professors of religion are so sel- 
dom found among the victims of insanity, is 
doubtless to be ascribed to the preventive influence 
of religion, which the author not only wholly over- 
looks, but utterly denies. Among the mental 
cajises to which insanity is often ascribed, we 
find enumerated " the loss of friends," " disap- 
ment in business," " reverses of fortune," and 
other calamities, all of which are perennially suf- 
fered by multitudes, who, but for the powerful 
supports and comforts of religion, would, in all 
rational probability, fall victims to melancholy and 
insanity, and are only preserved in these fiery 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 129 

trials, by the consolations which religion, and re- 
ligion alone, has power to bestow. 

If there were any semblance of truth in the as- 
sertions of the author on this subject, or any 
correctness in his theory, instead of a few soli- 
tary cases of religious mania, we should, in these 
days of religious excitement, and even fanaticism, 
be authorized to expect a multitude of such ex- 
amples. But what he lacks in facts, he makes up 
in wild and gratuitous assertions, as startling as 
they are unfounded, as the following specimens 
will prove: "No other disease is probably in- 
creasing faster in our country than insanity !" and 
he even " fears that it already prevails here to a 
greater extent than in any other country," and these 
deplorable results, which his morbid imagination 
has conjured up, to affright himself and others, he 
ascribes to " exciting the minds of the young, and 
particularly females, on the subject of religion !" 
Indeed, such is the peculiar horror of his perturbed 
intellect, upon this frightful subject, that there 
can be little doubt that if the author were em- 
ployed to investigate the causes of mania a potu, 
puerperal insanity, or even the hereditary cases in a 
mad-house, he would find that every one of them, 
had some time or other, been at a camp meeting, or a 
Sunday school, a protracted meeting, or revival, 
a sun-rise prayer meeting, or at least a night meeting ! 
and hence, most logically, attribute them all to 
religion, or at least to the " religious sentiment," 



130 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

which, according to his philosophy, " brought 
death into the world and all our woes." We 
must not forget, however, to remind the reader, 
that this most potent " cause of causes," so fruit- 
ful of insanity, epilepsy, and convulsions, was 
" implanted in man by his Creator !" and has the 
author's " profound respect !" 

But he seems so apprehensive that the reader 
will be incredulous in relation to the actual pro- 
duction and development of these frightful mala- 
dies, as resulting from religion, that he labors to 
terrify us by the warning, that even if it does not 
actually produce these violent and fatal dis- 
eases, yet it "may give rise to melancholy, hypo- 
chondriasis , tic dolor eux, nervous affections, diseases of 
the stomach," &c, &c; and though he labors to 
establish this position, until he exposes the weak- 
ness of his cause, yet he leaves it like the former, 
without a particle of evidence. 

Failing, however, to implicate religion in the 
foul accusation he has brought against it, he still 
insists that mental excitement is dangerous, be- 
cause the " South sea bubble," the " revolutions 
of America and France," &c. produced cases of 
insanity. After these, and the like very relevant 
arguments, in proof of the " influence of religion 
upon the health and physical welfare of mankind," 
he concludes by the following prodigious an- 
nouncement, " religious excitement, like all mental 
excitement, may cause insanity and other di« 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 131 

seases," and then admits, though with constrained 
and reluctant grimace, that " pure religion, Chris- 
tianity, has no such effect; but the abuse of it 
has !" We marvel that he was not afraid to add 
his book to the multiplied causes of insanity which 
he deplores ; for if the " abuse of Christianity" be 
a cause, he has furnished the world with a memo- 
rable example of that " abuse," and one which, 
in this respect, will scarcely find a parallel. In- 
deed we are not surprised to learn from the Chris- 
tian Spectator, that the volume before us has 
already produced one victim of insanity, in which 
this disease was caused by reading it. Should the 
author's monomania protect himself from the 
baneful influence of " religion," and restrain him 
from " night meetings," he may escape personally 
from insanity, notwithstanding his " abuse of 
Christianity." For, however potent his " abuse 
of religion" upon the credulous victim who has 
become insane by reading it, we have little fear 
that the writer of this " abuse," believed in his own 
theory, and because we desire his convalesence 
and sanity, we ardently hope he does not. 

But, in justice to this strange and incoherent 
inconsistency, which has led the author to disclaim 
any intention to assail religion, and to allege the 
evils he deplores only against its " abuse," we 
will pause for the purpose of ascertaining what 
are the " abuses of religion" in his estimation. 
And first, the reader may observe, that " all reli- 



182 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

gious rites or ceremonies," of whatever kind, 
are examples of the " abuse of Christianity ;" for 
he over and again declares that " Christ estab- 
lished no ceremonies at all !" Secondly, the doc- 
trine of Divine influence is another " abuse ;" for 
he positively affirms that " God has no supernatu- 
ral dealings with men /" Thirdly, all public assem- 
blies for worship, all preaching and praying, are 
instances of " abuse," and ought to be abandoned, 
since they " excite the mind and agitate the body," 
and besides being unscriptural, are " very unrea- 
sonable in this age, when information on all subjects 
can be obtained by reacting!" Not only should 
all religious meetings be abandoned, but Sunday 
schools also, for they are another " abuse ;" and 
as " the Sabbath ought to be a day of rest for man 
and beast" it is not only an abuse to " assemble 
and hear sermons all day," but it is almost as bad 
to " make horses work" by carrying people to 
church. It is no abuse, he says, to "walk or 
ride or visit friends on Sunday," so as people ab- 
stain from hearing sermons on that day, and are 
scrupulous not to ride to church. It is true the Dr. 
consents that a part of the day may be spent in 
devotional feelings, " provided they are not car- 
ried to an unreasonable extent." The " extent" 
which he regards as not unreasonable, may be 
estimated by what we have presented above, in 
explanation of the abuses of religion, all of which 
are of course " unreasonable." 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 133 

A long extract from another French infidel, on 
demonomania, designed to sustain his accusation 
against religion, in " causing alienation of mind," 
and which he calls an " admirable article," is here 
presented, and may be taken as a true illustra- 
tion of the author's real sentiments, although to 
the reader is committed the task of reconciling 
these doctrines of M. Esquirol, which he fully 
adopts as his own, with the Doctor's professions of 
profound respect for religion, and of his aiming 
only to correct the " abuses of Christianity." 

Among other flagrant exhibitions of depravity 
and infidelity, we are here taught that Christian- 
ity only " consecrated and extended the opinion 
of Plato and Socrates, as to the existence of spirits," 
and hence, by the introduction of Christianity, 
"demonomania was increased" because of the uni- 
versal terror occasioned by the fear of yielding to 
the instigations of the devil, and the exaggerated 
opinions of the power of spirits over the body ; and 
" exorcising," a practice resorted to in the " primi- 
tive church for restoring the possessed of the 
devil," though called miraculous, is here described 
as a vile imposture ; and these observations are 
evidently designed to apply to the cases of demo- 
niacs, who were healed by Christ and his apos- 
tles ; and all such " miracles" are ascribed to 
" strongly affecting the imagination." How 
strange that the " mental excitement" thus produ- 
ced, should cure the possessed, and restore the in- 

12 



134 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

sme, when such maladies are caused by the same 
excitement, which afterwards becomes their cure. 
But this anomaly is all explicable by the Doctor's 
" philosophy of bumps." 

But next we are introduced to the period of the 
Reformation ; and Luther himself is charged with 
having " revived fanaticism," and by " menacing 
damnation eternal," having "added a great in- 
crease of religious melancholy." Indeed, Calvin is 
here said to have increased them still more. " Eve- 
ry where could be seen the excommunicated, 
the damned, and the witches. The people of course 
became terrified. Tribunals were elected and 
the devil was summoned to appear in a court of 
justice !" These and similar disgusting and mis- 
chievous falsehoods, are endorsed by the author as 
sober truth, because they are found in the Dic- 
tionaire de Sciences Medicale, and ascribed to M. 
Esquirol. 

The object for which this extract is introduced, 
is obviously to persuade the reader into the belief 
that " demonomania," which is " the most deplo- 
rable of all kinds of insanity," does legitimately 
result, not from the abuses of religion, but from 
Christianity itself. Hence he dates the increase 
of this malady, from the period of the " introduc- 
tion of Christianity," and charges it upon the 
" primitive church," that they not only furnished 
examples, but held " solemn festivals to cure the 
possessed" by pretended miracles. Then he at- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 135 

tempts to implicate the doctrines of the reforma- 
tion in the same condemnation, charging upon 
Luther and Calvin similar enormities ; and though 
he professes to attribute the abandonment of a be- 
lief in demons and witches to Christianity, yet 
he records, as coeval with the renunciation of 
these follies, that " religion lost much of its power 
and influence on the ideas and conduct of men.' 1 
And regarding this " power and influence" as ne- 
cessary to " insure the docility of the people, and 
to produce obedience," he says the government 
of Europe have had recourse to other means for 
this purpose. And in this connection, he places 
the " fear of the police, of prisons, and of punish- 
ments," as being analogous to the terrors of reli- 
gious excitement, and thinks it probable that the 
hospitals for the insane will soon contain the vic- 
tims of the former fears, instead of the latter ; and 
this, we suppose, is on the hypothesis that religion 
is to be " abandoned," or at least not cultivated 
" to an unreasonable extent." 

And here the author introduces his own testi- 
mony in corroboration of " religious excitement" 
producing that variety of demonomania, usually 
called " religious melancholy," and which, he 
says, " leads to suicides, and attempts to destroy 
themselves and their kindred." These dreadful 
cases are produced, we are told, by " imagining 
that they have committed great crimes," for which 
" they must go to hell," and that this " cruel de.s- 






136 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

tiny" is unavoidable, because they are guilty of 
"the unpardonable sin," and their "day of sal- 
vation is passed." All these " imaginary terrors" 
accompanying this form of insanity, are ascribed 
to " religion and religious excitement," and the 
author has " the particulars of above ninety cases 
of suicide from religious melancholy, which have 
occurred in six of the northern states, within the 
last twenty years, and most of them within a very 
few years ; and thirty instances in which the un- 
happy sufferers either killed, or attempted to kill 
their children, or dearest relatives, to ensure their 
future happiness." And he has " no doubt, that 
if all the examples of insanity, from the like 
cause, could be known, their number would sur- 
prise and grieve the friends of humanity, as did 
the first published accounts of the ravages of in- 
temperance!" Such is the exaggerated and un- 
founded note of alarm which the author sounds, 
the monstrous extravagance and absurdity of 
which, will prevent the salutary effect of his criti- 
cisms, even when they are directed against ac- 
knowledged evils. That there are appropriate 
examples of fanaticism and folly, which deserve 
the censures and reproofs which are here so indis- 
criminately bestowed, is every where known ; 
but to charge any such instance upon religion as 
its cause, is not only absurd, but absolutely im- 
pious. 

After the astonishing hyperbole of language 



REVIEW OF DR. J3RIGHAM. 137 

employed by the author, and the frightful array of 
false facts, which have been imposed upon his 
credulity, until his morbid imagination, it would 
seem, has been prepared to believe that there are 
five hundred thousand insane religionists in the 
country, and thirty thousand annual victims of 
suicide and murder from this form of demonoma- 
nia, analagous to the startling statistics of the " ra- 
vages of intemperance ;" instead of being, him- 
self, shocked at the horrible picture, which his 
fancy has sketched, he says, with prodigious com- 
posure, that the reader should " not be surprised at 
the number of the insane being so great" but he 
should rather be amazed " that it should be so 
small ! !" This, he thinks, will be the case, if 
we "call to mind the immense amount of machi- 
nery in operation to excite the minds of nien, 
women and children" by preaching, praying, pro- 
tracted and night meetings, " sunday schools ," &c, 
thus attributing insanity directly to these and 
other religious means, or machinery, and not to 
any real or alleged abuses. We have seen already 
that every distinguishing peculiarity of Christi- 
anity or revealed religion, is, by the author term- 
ed and regarded an abuse. 

Before we pursue these extracts farther, it may 
be proper briefly to review the astounding senti- 
ments which the author here avows, as well as the 
statements of fact he has introduced. Everybody 
knows that there is a bodily disorder, from which 

12* 



13S REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

religious men are not exempt, which tends to 
great mental distress, and ultimate insanity. Now 
it is no more a fair objection, that religion should 
not secure any one against this affliction, than it 
would be to allege that it does not prevent the gout> 
or cure the consumption. It would be a sad thing, 
indeed, if the Almighty made it a rule never to 
convert any person who had a constitutional or 
hereditary tendency to derangement, or any dis- 
order of the brain. And if such persons embrace 
religion, it may be expected that their minds, 
in a season of distraction, will run upon the same 
subjects which previously occupied their atten- 
tion ; and that they will view them in a distorted 
manner, just as others in a similar state, view the 
subjects with which they had been conversant. 
Cowper, the poet> whose case is often referred to 
by infidels, who attribute his affliction to religion, 
in the precise spirit of our author, was deranged 
long before he knew any thing of evangelical reli- 
gion. He owed many years of unspeakable 
comfort to the consolations of the gospel. And 
when he suffered a relapse of his physical malady > 
his distress was occasioned not by religion, but by 
a false idea, which is in direct opposition to the 
gospel, and one which he adopted only because of 
the paroxysm of insanity from which he suffered 
this relapse in his latter years. 

Now if we had before us the "ninety cases of 
suicide, from religious melancholy/' which the 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 139 

author seems to present with exultation, and the 
particulars of which he boasts of having obtained 
from within six of the northern states, during the 
last twenty years, we should probably be able to 
interpret many of them by this key, and so far as 
any of them, were justly chargeable upon 
mental or physical excitement of any kind, it 
would be found, that no evidence could be addu- 
ced, at all calculated to prove that religion, or 
even what the author calls the " abuses" of reli- 
gion, had the least agency in their causation. 
The world has been too long imposed upon by 
false philosophy, and by a false nomenclature, 
which, on this very subject has inculcated a belief 
in perverted and distorted facts, which it is full 
time were exploded.. The author, if he had not him- 
self become a victim of these popular delusions, 
would have availed himself of the opportunity, 
which his subject furnished him, of enlightening 
his readers in relation to the impostures alluded 
to. He does, indeed, explode the notion which 
implies that the mind, the soul, the immaterial 
part of man, is the seat of insanity, an opinion 
which has been imposed upon the public by phy- 
sicians who have written learnedly upon "dis- 
eases of the mind." By a similar misnomer, many 
medical authors* and Dr. Brigham among others, 
introduce the term, " religious melancholy, or 
mania," and the latter defines this term in his 
book* in accordance with this false nomenclature.. 



140 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

It is a remnant of the dark ages which barbarism 
invented, which nominal Christians have per- 
petuated, and which Dr. B. would render eternal. 
Indeed, the ancient term was far less exception- 
able, than, as it has since been modernized. The 
disease was called by Hippocrates and Celsus, 
" mania religiosorum," literally, " the insanity of 
religious people," by which they and the ancients 
meant no more than to designate the form in which 
the disease of insanity was developed, in those 
persons who had previously been devotional and 
pious. They had not then learned the refinements 
of phrenology, nor "the science of bumps," else 
they, too, might have discovered upon the top of 
the head, a protuberance greatly developed, 
'yclept, the " organ of veneration,"* or, " the re- 



* This " organ of veneration," as Dr. Spurzheim denominates 
it, was called by Dr. Gall the ''organ of theosophy ;" and is the 
same which Dr Brigham calls '"the religious sentiment" To 
prove that the latter has not misrepresented his great masters in 
the "science," the reader is referred to the work of Dr. Gall, 
where he will find, that " a prominence on the median line, occu- 
pying the summit of the head, is the organic and innate source of 
all belief!" And Dr. Spurzheim teaches, that another organ, 
in the neighborhood of the former, which he denominates " mar- 
veUousness," contributes to " strengthen our faith and fortify our 
belief" And all these great men concur in maintaining, that " it 
would be as unjust to accuse those endowed with these organs, 
with imposture, as it would be to censure poets, who are impelled 
by the organ of" ideality," for embodying and personifying their 
ideas." For "we have the idea of a Supreme Being, because we 
have an organ fitted for such a purpose, and without an organ of 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 141 

ligious sentiment," and, in such case, they would 
have changed the name of the disease to " mania 
religiosa" instead of " religiosorum" and thus, by 
using the adjective instead of the plural noun, 
they would have taught the medical heresy of the 
author, and conformed to modern public senti- 
ment, for the existence of which this misnomer is 
responsible. Thus, in physics as in morals, error 
has been perpetuated by fallacious names and 
technicalities. 

By the term " religious melancholy," as now 
employed by the intelligent and candid among 
the profession, we design only to designate a case 
of insanity more or ]ess severe, in which the pa- 
tient is either a monomaniac, and irrational on no 
other subject except that of religion ; or, that the 
mind is prone to run upon this subject, to the par- 
tial or entire exclusion of every other. Such 
cases are found in almost every asylum for the 
insane, and are very rarely incurable. Indeed, 
there is good reason to believe that no such case is 
hopeless, unless it be hereditary, and even such 
constitutional insanity, as only assumes the mild 
form of " religious melancholy," is usually period- 
ical in the return of its paroxysms, and has lucid 
intervals of longer or shorter duration, sometimes 



theosophy we could have had no communication with the Supreme 
Being, nor should we have had any conception of his power and 
attributes." 



142 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

consisting of a number of years, without a single 
symptom of its return. 

Let it not be supposed, however, that, in these 
examples of " religious mania," either " religion" 
or " religious excitement" is universally, or even 
ordinarily, the ostensible cause of the malady, as 
its name would seem to indicate. So far from 
this being the fact, it is known to every practi- 
tioner whose education or experience qualify him 
to judge in the case, that these cases, denominated 
religious mania, exist in irreligious, and even pro- 
fanely wicked men, and are very often produced 
by 'beastly intemperance. We have known many 
examples in which habits of drunkenness have 
resulted in this form of insanity, and the patients 
would pray and sing psalms, exhort all those who 
visited them with great solemnity, and employ 
their solitude in preaching to the congregations of 
sinners, with whom their imaginations would fill 
the cells, to which necessity and humanity had 
confined them. We have witnessed such in- 
stances in individuals who had never paid any 
attention to religious meetings, or subjects of that 
nature, and yet, though known to be suffering from 
the direct fruits of intoxication, such persons were 
said to be religious maniacs ; and when suicide 
resulted, this act was ascribed to religion as its 
cause, for no other reason than this was the sub- 
ject of their ravings. 

The same may be said of other causes, whether 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 143 

physical or mental, resulting in this disease ; and 
nothing but blind infatuation could have led the 
author to the attempt he has made to identify all 
cases of religious mania, as being the result of 
" religious excitement." The fact is often direct- 
ly the reverse ; for in those instances in which 
persons have become insane while in a high state 
of religious excitement, and their hereditary pre- 
disposition has been developed by this cause, it is 
often the case, that, instead of devotional exer- 
cises, they employ themselves in all manner of 
profane and obscene discourse, making no allusion 
whatever to serious things ; and yet these too, may 
be, and often are reported as cases of religious 
mania, by friends who conceal their constitutional 
predisposition, and ascribe the paroxysm to the 
subject which occupied their minds, immediately 
previous to the attack. 

There would be just as much truth and philo- 
sophy in the application of the term lunatics, to 
those suffering from insanity in general, as to em- 
ploy the phrase religious mania in relation to a 
single class among the insane. And the author 
would not have been more unprofitably or dishon- 
orably employed, had he gotten up another moon- 
story and given us a learned dissertation upon 
" the influence of the moon upon the health and 
physical welfare of mankind." This may appro- 
priately enough, be the title of another in the se- 
ries of volumes he has commenced. All the 



144 REVIEW OF DR. BRICHAM. 

moon-struck individuals in the community will 
furnish him with examples and illustrations in 
proof of lunacy ; and the case books of the insane 
institutions are filled with instances, all of which 
he may charge upon the " influence of the moon" 
with a much greater show of authorities, philoso- 
phy, plausibility, and truth ; for the teims "luna- 
tic" and "religious maniac" are both entitled to 
equal authority, as indicating the nature and cause 
of the malady, in the individuals to whom these 
names are applied. In the one case, the disease 
may be as justly ascribed to the " influence of the 
moon," as in the other, to the " influence of reli- 
gion;" because both terms belong to the vocabu- 
lary of ignorance and superstition, which the im- 
provement of mankind, and the lights of science, 
have rendered obsolete. 

These remarks will serve to show, the utter 
futility of any judgment formed of the causes of 
insanity, either by the name assigned to it, or the 
circumstances of the patient at the time of its 
commencement, or by the peculiar topics on which 
the mind appears to run in its incoherent ravings, 
after the disease has appeared. The truth is, 
there can be very little dependence placed on the 
reports of insane hospitals, with however much of 
care and integrity they are prepared, by the offi- 
cers of such institutions, especially in relation to 
the causes of the disease. The friends of the pa- 
tient usually attribute the disease to the proximate 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 145 

cause most apparent at the time of their first dis- 
covering unequivocal marks of derangement; and 
they will often ascribe the attack to a number of 
causes, not only different, but even opposite in 
their nature ; and these are often wholly imaginary 
as events prove. At other times, they will con- 
ceal the real cause, for the reason that it is disre- 
putable, as when the result of some odious vice. 
And it is incredible to what a multitude of expe- 
dients a whole family will resort, for the purpose 
of preventing the suspicion of there being any 
hereditary tendency to the disease; sometimes 
because of the injury it will inflict upon other 
members of the family ; and often, because of the 
fear that the case will then be considered hope- 
less. It is obvious, from these considerations, 
that the " ninety examples of suicide from reli- 
gious melancholy," which the author so vaunting- 
ly records in confirmation of his views, must be 
regarded as very equivocal evidence at best, be- 
cause of the ambiguity and dubiousness which 
pertain to all investigations into the etiology of 
every form of insanity. 

While alluding to this subject of insanity, we 
again recal to the mind of the reader the dogma 
of the author, that insanity is the result of the in- 
creased " action of the brain ;" and we do so be- 
cause his theory and his book are both built upon 
this " vanity of vanities." Indeed, his former 

work on " the influence of mental excitement upon 

13 



146 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

health," has the same " sandy foundation," though 
it has been lauded to the skies, by men who on 
other subjects exhibit some share of intellect and 
judgment. We pause, then, to enquire what con- 
ceivable " action" the brain is supposed to per- 
form ? Does the brain think, and is it the increas- 
ed thinking produced by religions excitement, 
which tends to insanity and developes altef ations 
in its structure ? Surely the author forgets that he 
calls the brain the "organ on which the mind acts ;" 
and uninitiated readers have always supposed 
that it is the mind which thinks, and that thinking 
is one of the actions of the mind, which is conveyed 
through its organ, the brain, by means of the 
nerves, to the limbs and other portions of the 
body. He will scarcely allege, after this conces- 
sion, that the brain thinks ; for this would be un- 
sophisticated materialism, which he and his bro- 
ther phrenologists indignantly disclaim. We ask 
then, in the name of any species of reason or 
sense, what kind of action is that of the brain ? 
Does the brain see, hear, taste, smell, or feel ? or 
is it only the organ by which the mind performs 
the act of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and 
feeling, through the organs or sub-organs adapted 
to these several functions ? A ccording to the 
doctrine here inculcated, the sights and sounds 
accompanying a " protracted meeting," or a " re- 
vival of religion," produce increased action of 
some kind on the part of the brain, and this ex- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 147 

cessive action results from mental excitement of 
any kind, and especially on the subject of religion. 
And yet, he does not enlighten us in relation to 
the nature of this imaginary action, which, if his 
own brain had been acting, he would have felt to 
be his imperious duty, in discussing so grave and 
important a subject as the nature and causation 
of insanity. 

The truth appears to be this, that in all the ex- 
amples of insanity there are 'physical causes which 
dissection demonstrates amply sufficient to ac- 
count for the malady; and these causes, as we are 
here taught, are uniformly found in the brain. 
And as we have shown that to suppose any action 
of the brain, is to admit a physical impossibility 
and a metaphysical absurdity, it is scarcely need- 
ful to add, that this theory assigns " more causes 
than are necessary for the effect," which, accord- 
ing to any species of logic, is irrational ; and that 
phrenology has led the author to do so, is a stri- 
king evidence of the tendency of the system, and 
demonstrates its fallacy. 

That great mental excitement is particularly 
dangerous to females, and especially to mothers, 
during the season of their solicitude and lactation, 
has been long known ; and, though the author de- 
votes a section to this subject and that of the con- 
sequences upon their infant offspring, yet he says 
nothing new in relation to it, nor does he furnish 
any evidence that religion is accessory to such 



148 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

mischiefs in any of the examples he relates. It 
is true, he charges the "great jugglers of church 
and state," among whom he includes the minis- 
ters of religion, with availing themselves of the 
" highly excitable" susceptibilities of the female 
constitution ; and, in the language of another, he 
alleges that " women are the chosen vessels for en- 
thusiasm, and the most apparent subjects of delu- 
sion." Yet all this is mere rant and rhodomon- 
tade, while unaccompanied by any well attested 
facts, in confirmation of his accusations. 

It would have better become a philosopher such 
as our author, to have set himself soberly to in- 
vestigate the examples of " religious mania" upon 
which he dwells, in the light of facts, some of 
which he records, and others which the patholo- 
gical authorities he quotes, concur in testifying. 
The public have need of instruction on this sub- 
ject, and he might have performed an invaluable 
service to the cause of truth, had he disabused 
his fellow men of the impostures they have suf- 
fered, because ignorant of these facts. Instead, 
however, of employing his pen in explaining and 
illustrating the intricacies of the subject, he has 
thrown his whole energies into the scale of popu- 
lar delusion ; and his book will serve to create and 
aggravate unfounded and superstitious fears, 
which both science and humanity should have 
prompted him to allay. 

The facts which he has himself collected and 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 149 

recorded, are of themselves amply sufficient to 
refute his whole theory. For example, after enu- 
merating, "thickening of the skull," "organic 
alterations," and "changes of structure," as al- 
ways found " in the heads of insane people," he 
adds, that " the brain, the material organ of the 
mind, must become diseased, before the manifes- 
tations of the mind can be pronounced deranged !" 
What has become of his phrenological "increased 
action of the brain ?" Does he mean to insinuate 
that this action "thickens the skull?" If phre- 
nology be true, in whole or in part, then this ac- 
tion would thin the skull ; for the action of any one 
of the organs when cultivated, is developed by 
wearing away the skull or its inner table, since 
there must be a correspondent cavity beneath each 
of the "bumps" or developments, else the exte- 
rior convexity can be no index of the size of the 
" organ." But waiving this tangible and irre- 
fragable difficulty, we enquire again, does the 
" action of the brain," produced by " religions 
excitement," create the "changes of structure," 
and "organic alterations," which are "always 
found in the heads of insane people ?" Or are 
these diseased " changes of structure" necessary, 
before "religious" or any other " mental excite- 
ment," can produce insanity ? These are ques- 
tions one would think worthy of solution by this 
astute philosopher. He would find, however, that 

they would place him and his theory in an awk- 

13 # 



150 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

ward dilemma, since they change the order of pri- 
ority in cause and effect. If he attribute those 
changes directly to the " action of the brain," he 
conflicts with his own doctrine; for, on page 296, 
he maintains that this "action" only "predispo- 
ses" to insanity, and the disease may be after- 
wards or finally developed by " ill health" or 
other causes ; and if he choose the other horn, and 
admit that these organic affections exist prior to 
the religious excitement and consequent action of 
the brain, then he must admit, not only that the 
individuals who become victims to the disease 
are physically predisposed to it, but that these 
organic and structural diseases are insufficient to 
develope insanity, without religious or mental ex- 
citement, which is at utter variance with his own 
book, and all his authorities. 

If we were at liberty to pursue this subject, and 
the limits we have prescribed to ourselves in this 
review did not forbid any considerable amplifica- 
tion, we might readily demonstrate what at pre- 
sent we can only glance at, both in relation to the 
inconsistencies and palpable contradictions of our 
author, and also in reference to the facts and ad- 
missions contained in his own book, from which 
the true theory of insanity may be deduced. It 
may be in place, briefly to remark, that as the 
brain is the material organ of the mind, and is in- 
variably diseased in its structure, and must be so 
before any form of insanity can exist, it is plain 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 151 

that the essence of the disease consists in some 
organic affection of the brain, even when, as in 
many cases, we may be unable to discover the na- 
ture of the structural alteration by dissection it- 
self. Whenever insanity appears then, in any 
instance, whatever may seem to have produced 
it, whether physical or mental in its character, 
there is in the brain of the individual the seat or 
proximate cause of the disease. From these pre- 
mises, distinctly admitted by the author, it follows 
that, before we can legitimately infer that " reli- 
gion" or " religious excitement" has occasioned 
insanity, much less affirm that it is " one of the 
most fruitful sources of this disease," we must 
prove, or at least render it probable, that such ex- 
citement will produce " organic alterations," or 
" changes of structure," or " thickening of the 
skull;" for these are " always found in the heads 
of insane people." We need not say, that the 
author has utterly failed to furnish a single exam- 
ple, even with the aid of his visionary fable of 
the " action of the brain," in which there is the 
least semblance of evidence that religious excite- 
ment created these physical derangements in the 
structure of the brain. So far from having made 
this appear, he seems so conscious of the absence 
of all proof that religious excitement has evei 
occasioned insanity, though he has over and again 
asserted it, that he says "it produces a tendency to 
insanity, which other causes may finally de- 



152 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

velope." And hence, he argues that even when 
religious excitement does not produce insanity, 
yet it creates a " predisposition" to it; and the in- 
dividuals, although they afterwards become in- 
sane, obviously from other causes, yet this resul 
would not have taken place, had it not been for 
the "previous excitement." And even if they 
never give any symptom of insanity, yet still, he con- 
tends, that a " still greater evil is to be feared in 
the effect which the excitement will have upon a 
succeeding generation, the offspring of excited and 
nervous parents." The ingenuity of this alarm- 
ist, in his zeal to make out his case against reli- 
gion, by first contending that it makes people in- 
sane, and next that at least it prepares them to be- 
come so from other causes, and then alleging that at 
any rate, if they will not become victims of insanity, 
their children or grandchildren will; is conclusive 
evidence that he designs to make up in prophecy 
what he lacks in argument and facts. 

On this subject there is not only extensive popu- 
lar delusion, but the profession is in no small de- 
gree accountable for it ; nor indeed are physicians 
themselves altogether free from confused and un- 
philosophical opinions. For example, we hear 
and read perpetual eulogies on what is called the 
moral treatment of insane persons, in contradis- 
tinction from the physical, which implies that in- 
sanity is a mental disease, and not a physical one, 
hence the appropriateness of moral means. Ex- 



REVIEW OF DB. BRIGHAM. 153 

perience and observation, however, are continually 
adding a multitude of facts, which abundantly 
prove that no moral means are useful, unless they 
produce a. physical effect. Hence, solitude is often 
the most successful moral remedy, because it ab- 
stracts the association of ideas which company, of 
any kind, occasions. The activity of the mind is 
often greater, in proportion as the organ on which 
it acts is enfeebled and impaired by the malady. 
Hence, when solitude alone fails to calm the per- 
turbed and incoherent ravings of a maniac, other 
moral means are used, such as darkness and silence, 
by which light and sound, those potent stimuli of 
thought, are withdrawn. The morbid sensitive- 
ness of the visual and auditory organs, consequent 
upon the diseased condition of the brain, fre- 
quently render it necessary to superadd profound 
silence and darkness to solitude, in order to tran- 
quilize the system, and this effect is produced by 
the physical operation of these moral means* 
Occasionally, however, it becomes requisite to 
confine the limbs, when motion alone proves a 
stimulant to the action of the mind ; and, in addi- 
tion to all these means, starvation, another physi- 
cal measure, must occasionally be resorted to, 
since it is found that the act of taking food excites 
both mind and body, apart from the processes of 
digestion and assimilation, which are often incom- 
patible with convalescence in such cases. All 
such means as we have named, are curative in 



154 REVIEW OF DR. BR1GHAM. 

their tendency, by their withdrawing all the stim- 
uli of mental action ; and that this is the rational 
and philosophical indication is apparent, when we 
consider that the brain is the seat of the disease, 
and this " organ on which the mind acts" being 
feeble and sick, it is necessary to suspend the use 
or employment of this organ as far as possible. 
And as any use of a defective or broken instru- 
ment of music, is calculated to increase the mis- 
chief, and prevent the possibility of its being re- 
paired, so it is desirable in all cases of recent in- 
sanity, that the mind be kept in a state of 
quiescence, since it cannot act without using a 
suffering or injured organ ; and all action upon an 
instrument in this condition, must not only be 
irregular and incoherent, but it must necessarily 
increase the difficulty of cure. It is for want of 
giving the brain the rest which is required, that 
recent cases of insanity are so often rendered per- 
manent and hopeless, a result which is often the 
consequence of company, or employment, or re- 
creation. 

While the mind is acting on a diseased brain, 
how can this, organ-be expected to yield to any cu- 
rative treatment, whether physical or moral. 
Would a diseased or inflamed eye ever recover, if 
it were constantly employed for the purposes of 
vision ? Or could a serious injury of the knee 
joint be successfully treated, while the limb was 
constantly disturbed by forced attempts at walk- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 155 

ing ? It would be as rational and philosophical 
to treat an inflamed eye, or a diseased joint thus, 
as it is to hope for the recovery of insane persons, 
by requiring or allowing them either to read, to 
sew, to work, to walk, to ride, or to engage in any 
avocation, employment or amusement, which im- 
poses action upon the mind, when the organ on 
which it is obliged to act, is impaired in its integ- 
rity, or disturbed in its functions by disease. Es- 
pecially is company of any kind, much more that 
of the insane, indiscreet and pernicious. So far 
from this prevalent and popular, though erroneous 
management of insane persons, being judicious, 
it ought to be our object to give the enfeebled brain 
entire rest, so far as we can effect this by with- 
holding every cause calculated to excite mental 
effort. Hence, solitude, silence, darkness, absti- 
nence from food, and the prevention of all motion 
of the body or limbs, are found by experiment to 
be the most successful method of management, 
for every form of recent insanity. After conva- 
lescence commences, then, and not till then, can 
exercise, or recreation of any kind, be salutary. 
In all old cases, which have acquired a character 
of hopelessness, the indication then is, to make 
the patient's situation as comfortable as possible, 
by imposing few privations, and none but such as 
as are indispensable for safety. 

These brief hints, touching the treatment of ii>- 
sanity, will serve to show, that " the action of the 



156 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

brain," of which the author speaks, has no share 
in the causation of the disease, and finds no sup- 
port from the philosophy concerned in its medical 
management ; and they are designed, at the same 
time, to corroborate the testimony already before 
the reader, that religion is not among the causes 
of insanity. 

If we have succeeded in vindicating religion from 
the allegation of being " among the most fruitful 
sources of insanity," it is a duty which truth de- 
mands, to record our conviction that it is both 
preventive and curative in its effects, for this is 
its legitimate province and tendency, as abundant 
facts most conclusively prove. Not that it will 
universally prevent an attack, nor that it is adapt- 
ed as a remedy to all cases and stages of the dis- 
ease, for the reader cannot so understand us after 
we have so explicitly stated essentially different 
opinions. But we maintain that the calamities 
incident to mortality, and which afflict great mul- 
titudes of our race beyond endurance, and by 
which men are often driven to insanity, and even 
impelled to suicide, are very frequently borne with 
supernatural patience, and sustained with super- 
human fortitude, by those who are obviously in- 
debted for the impunity with which they pass 
through the " furnace of affliction," to the sup- 
ports and hopes which religion inspires. But for 
this, both body and mind would sink beneath the 
intolerable load of misfortune, suffering and be- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 157 

reavement, which such are often called in the Pro- 
vidence of God to endure. In such examples, 
which are witnessed in almost every community, 
the preventive power of religion is exemplified, 
and for want of this influence others become vic- 
tims of insanity from causes inconceivably less 
afflictive. Besides, how many there are, who, 
when suffering a wounded spirit from worldly in- 
fluences, such as disappointed affection, sudden 
bereavements of wealth or friends, mortified pride 
or defeated ambition, have stood upon the preci- 
pice of insanity, and desiring death in the error 
of their ways — multitudes have gone so far, that 
they have chosen the fatal weapon, held the poison 
to their lips, trembled over the river's brink, or 
prepared the halter, and in the very act of self- 
murder, when almost consummated, the impulses 
of religion have awakened the latent energies of 
the desponding heart, and darted a ray of light 
and hope athwart the soul, even when driven to 
desperation, and thus restored the son of wretch- 
edness to reason and to life. In all such instan- 
ces, and they are far more numerous than are the 
victims of insanity, from every cause, religion 
has prevented insanity. But there are many evi- 
dences, even among the insane, that religious con- 
solation has proved the only restorative sufficient- 
ly potent to win th^ despairing back to hope, to 
make the wounded spirit whole. And, accord- 
ingly, we find that when the furious maniac is 

14 



158 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

tranquilized by appropriate means, and moral in- 
fluence is indicated, in almost all the asylums and 
retreats, such patients are uniformly benefited by 
religious services. Reading the scriptures, prayer 
and even preaching the gospel to the convalescent 
from insanity, has universally proved a salutary 
cordial, and is every where becoming included 
among the arrangements of such institutions. 
And in this single fact, we have a strong collateral 
argument, in opposition to the doctrines of Dr. 
Brigham's book ; for surely religion cannot be the 
cause of insanity, and yet, as we have seen, prove 
itself useful and potent, both for prevention and 
cure. 

Nevertheless, it may be conceded in perfect 
consistency, that " erroneous opinions in religion" 
and " false views of doctrine and duty," may be 
cultivated until they become the habit of the mind, 
and when these errors are of an inordinately ex- 
citing or depressing character, they may over- 
spread the soul with imaginary raptures, or over- 
whelm it in gloom and despondency ; and thus, a 
disease of the brain, maybe superinduced, which 
may develope insanity in constitutions heredita- 
rily or otherwise predisposed to this malady. But 
in the name of reason and common sense, do such 
examples " change the truth of God into a lie," 
and involve religion in the charge of being the 
source of the disease. Falsehood, fanaticism, 
hypocrisy, and sin, may all impel men to insanity 
and suicide, and have often doubtless done so. 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 159 

Thousands have fallen victims to insanity for want 
of religion, and from causes which this would 
have rendered harmless. But it is a gross and 
flagrant impeachment of the wisdom and benevo- 
lence of the Creator, to harbor the thought, much 
more to hazard the assertion, that a Religion which 
He has instituted by the display of all the attri- 
butes of Deity, and the exhibition of the infinity 
of His perfections, and the proclamation of His 
eternal love, should be the source of the most ap- 
palling and unutterable calamity on this side of 
perdition. And yet such is the " bad eminence" 
to which Dr. Brigham has aspired, and such is the 
legitimate doctrine of which he has become the 
exclusive proprietor. If such be the fruits of phre- 
nology upon his mind, we may sentimentally and 
most heartily adopt the exclamation of the pro- 
phet, in relation to the whole sect: " My soul! 
come not thou into their secret, to their assembly 
mine honor be not thou united !" 

We come now to the section containing recom- 
mendations and cautions to clergymen. The 
author begins by conceding the " sincere desire 
to do good, to the clergy, very generally ;" but he 
deplores their " want of knowledge," especially 
of human physiology, by reason of which lack, 
" with the best intentions, they have often done 
great harm." He seems to regard the great body 
of the clergy of the country as " weak brethren," 
well meaning, but ignorant men ; and the most 



160 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

deplorable deficiency he laments is, that they "do 
not know" that when they strongly excite the 
feelings of their hearers, they produce a terrible 
" action of the brain," which is " transmitted to 
succeeding generations!" And here again, he 
repeats his stupid corollary, that " the brain acts as 
really when impressions are transmitted to it, as 
the stomach does when aliments are received into 
it." We have already shown the consum- 
mate folly of this brainless imp of phrenology. 

The arguments by which he commends the 
study of physiology to the clergy are, that they 
may learn how to " improve the physical organiza- 
tion of the heathen, the Indians, and the dark-co- 
lored races of men !" He encourages them 
patiently to persevere in this work ; for though 
little can be done in one generation, or one cen- 
tury, yet b} r continuing for " successive generations" 
to improve and strengthen their intellectual and 
moral faculties, they will " cause an improvement 
in their physical organization," by the developement 
of the necessary bumps, and these will be transmit- 
ted to posterity ! 

After much sage counsel of similar import, in 
condescension to the clergy, he "advises, recom- 
mends, and refers" them to a number of books on 
Anatomy, Physiology, Animal Magnetism, Insa- 
nity, and the sublime and celestial science of Phre* 
nology, as well as a number of medical periodi- 
cals, all of which, taken together, he seems to 
think will make them "wise unto salvation," 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 161 

It is, indeed, superlatively ludicrous to witness 
the amazing pomp, circumstance, and self com- 
placency, with which this venerable young doctor 
seats himself in the tripod, assumes the mitre, and 
announces his episcopal, nay, his papal, ghostly 
counsels, as though ex cathedra, with oracular 
authority. " I advise the clergy;" "Irecommend 
to this useful class of men ;" " I have long 
thought ;" and then, in the exuberance of his wis- 
dom and benevolence, instructing the clergy of 
this country, as to the subjects and books they 
should study, and reprimanding them for the de- 
ficiency of their libraries, and their ignorance of 
the subjects they ought to know. If the learned 
presidents and professors of theological semina- 
ries do not exclaim "a second Daniel's come to 
judgment," now that " Sir Oracle opes his mouth," 
the world will attribute it to the want of improve- 
ment in their " physical organization," by which 
they are disqualified for the reception of the pure, 
and spiritual, and phrenological religion of the il- 
lustrious Dr. Brigham. 

We come now to the concluding chapter of this 
treasure of theological lore, the profundity of 
which we are endeavoring patiently to fathom. 
Having already noticed in another place, the au- 
thor's opinions in relation to the Sabbath, we pass 
to the section on the importance of cultivating de- 
votional feelings. And here we are enlightened 

14* 



162 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

by the information that the " religious sentiment/* 
so " naturally disposes man in all ages and climes 
to devotion, that he universally seeks it, and is be- 
nefited by it, when the forms of religious wor- 
ship are not such as his reason repels!" Hence, 
as the forms in which Christianity is taught, are 
made by " the priesthood to linger behind the in- 
telligence of the times," it is for this reason that 
people forsake religious worship. Of course, it 
follows that it is only necessary to improve the 
forms in which religion is inculcated, so that they 
may not be repulsive to reason, and all men will 
be naturally disposed to be religious. 

The author concedes the importance of reve- 
rence for superior and invisible beings, because the 
want of it leads to a disregard of civil rulers and 
all other authority ; and hence, admits that "a de- 
cay of the national religion is always accompanied 
by that of the nation." It is for this reason, that 
he benevolently and zealously desires that in this 
country, " the political feelings should never be 
stronger than the religious," which, he says, is 
sometimes the case; a remarkable thing truly, 
when he maintains that the " religious" is the 
" most powerful sentiment of our nature," and has 
" more influence on mankind than all their pas- 
sions combined." Still, however, he tells us that 
the " spirit of sect yields to the spirit of party" 
when it runs high, and this he deplores as a na- 
tional calamity. He thinks "great pains should 



REVIEW OF BR. BRIGHAM. 163 

be taken to cultivate sentiments of veneration for 
sacred things, for truth, honesty, and perfect upright- 
ness" These are the " sacred three" which he 
seems to invest with the attributes of Deity ; for 
he says, "Men should be taught to venerate the 
virtues inculcated by our Savior — to worship, if I 
may so express myself, truth, love, charity, self de- 
nial, &c, virtues of which he was the living per- 
sonification!" And it will serve to illustrate the 
author's meaning, to remind the reader that though 
he commends worshiping these virtues, yet he whol- 
ly objects to the worship of Christ; and argues 
against the Lord's Supper, on page 130, because 
that ordinance " seems to be a kind of worship of 
Christ himself;" this he says, " the Savior never 
enjoined." " Christ did not desire that men should 
assemble in vast numbers, and prostrate them- 
selves before him and chant his praise." Espe- 
cially does the author protest against " holy day 
keeping, sermon reading or hearing, church cere- 
monies and long prayers, modern sermonizing and 
church going." These are the forms of religion 
which are repulsive to reason, and behind the in- 
telligence of the times ; and yet the title of this 
section is, " the importance of cultivating devo- 
tional feelings." What kind of devotional feel- 
ings he would cultivate, the reader will be puzzled 
to know, since he rejects all present forms, and 
prescribes no others. 

He next animadverts upon the clergy of the day, 



1 64 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

who, en masse, he represents as " agitated by the 
puerile and exciting topics of the day." This he 
accounts for, by their temperament and disposi- 
tion phrenologically. He says : " Preachers, like 
other men, in consequence of their organization, 
model, without knowing it, the character of their 
Heavenly Father after their own !" The reader 
will be struck with the fact, that the clergy are 
here represented to conceive of their Maker as a 
Being resembling themselves in their temperament 
and disposition. But this enormity, it is stated, 
is the " consequence of their organization," and 
they cannot help it. Indeed, so far from their 
being implicated in criminality by thus misrepre- 
senting their Heavenly Father,these well-meaning, 
good-intentioned " class of men," commit this sin 
" without knowing it." Indeed, but for the lights 
of science, which the " philosophy of bumps" re- 
flects upon the author's mind, " in consequence of 
his organization," even he " would not know it." 

" And still he gazed— and still the wonder grew 
How one small head could carry all he knew !" 

In relation to the " denouncing preachers," who 
are here denounced, the reader will agree with 
us, that whoever employs " coarse and vulgar 
terms," "denunciatory and dogmatical language 
in their preaching," and " mistakes the love of sec- 
tarianism for that of Christianity," even though, 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 165 

as the author alleges, they belong to a " great 
class," such ministers are incapable of vindica- 
tion. That the author has drawn largely upon 
his morbific imagination for his facts, however, is 
very apparent ; and this is a fault which is doubt- 
less " a consequence of his organization," and he 
commits it perpetually, like the preachers of whom 
he speaks, " without knowing it." 

But having initiated the clergy into the proper 
books for their libraries, and given them his sage 
counsels, " cautions," and admonitions, he now 
proposes to correct the mistakes of their preach- 
ing, by arguing that " Christianity is yielding to 
the spirit of the age, and has become philosophi- 
cal." He shrewdly reminds them, that " hereto- 
fore it has been dogmatical, imperious, and immu- 
table" but now, simultaneously with the appear- 
ance of his book, we suppose, Christianity like all 
other subjects, must submit itself to discussion, 
analysis, and examination ; and what was before 
immutable, " must, like all other subjects," become 
mutable, and change with the spirit of the age. 
Hence, he talks not only of " philosophical Chris- 
tianity," but the " democratic spirit of the gos- 
pel," which, though a spirit, is not a supernatural 
one ; for he stoutly maintains that " God has no 
supernatural dealings with men." 

Such preachers as he describes to be under the 
influence of this " democratic spirit," make the 
people "fond of attending church on the Sabbath, 
and the love and habit of attending is acquired ; 



166 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

and this is beneficial to health, because a natural 
want, the love of devotion, is thus gratified." Here 
the author represents the love of church-going to 
be a " natural want ;" and yet he objects to their 
" sermon hearing or chanting praises," or wor- 
shipping any Deity but truth, charity, and self 
denial, when they get there. Indeed, as he repu- 
diates all rites, all ceremonies, all forms, all psalm 
singing, and all sermon reading or hearing, and 
indeed all preaching, except in the " democratic 
spirit," we can hardly conceive what kind of em- 
ployment would occupy the time, or serve to 
gratify this " natural want, the love of devotion," 
on the part of those who should become " fond of 
attending church." It would never do to pray to 
Christ, for this would be to worship Him, instead 
of worshiping the virtues of which he was only the 
personification. It would beside " excite the mind 
and agitate the body," it would introduce "forms 
and ceremonies," which are all unauthorized and 
injurious to the health. And as for expecting any 
other benefit from devotion, than gratifying the 
natural want inspired by the religious sentiment, 
this would be to admit what the author regards 
as a most mischievous heresy, that " God has any 
supernatural dealings with men." 

And yet, the author professes to deprecate the 
entire neglect of devotion, as almost as injurious 
to health as religion itself, even as it is understood 
and practised by the present generation ; and, 
therefore it is, that he endeavors to enlighten the 



REVIEW OF DR. BR1GHAM. 167 

reader into the moderate and temperate use of 
religious worship and devotional feelings, believ- 
ing that these things are " beneficial if not carried 
to an unreasonable extent." Whether any one 
can learn from his book, what kind of religion or 
devotional feelings he may cultivate, and to what 
extent, without their becoming unhealthy^ is a 
question we leave to others for solution. For our- 
selves, we are free to confess our fears that so far 
as the author obtains the public confidence, we 
believe the necessary and unavoidable tendency 
of his book will be to create a contempt for reli- 
gion and its ordinances, and strengthen the hands 
of infidelity and sin. For, if the sentiments in- 
culcated in this volume were to become general 
or universal, the very name of religion would be- 
come synonymous with infamy and reproach, and 
the Bible, and the God of the Bible be everywhere 
renounced. 

The author concludes his volume, by a " brief 
summary of some of the opinions he has endea- 
vored to establish;" and, in stating these, we shall 
accompany each of these six opinions with a brief 
notice, which will be in effect a summary of the 
contents of the present review. The following is 
the summary of Dr. Brigham's opinions : 

"First. The religious sentiment is innate in man ; 
"but as it often acts blindly, and to the injury of man, 
" it needs the guidance of reason and knowledge. 

" Secondly. Christ established no ceremonies at all ; 
"he exacted virtuous conduct, not the observance of 



168 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

" rites. The reformation of Luther abolished some of 
" the ceremonies that had been improperly ingrafted 
" upon Christianity, but not all. That they have ever 
" been fruitful sources of discord, and ought to be re- 
" linquished. 

" Thirdly. Mankind are not at present under any 
" kind of miraculous dispensation ; that God has no su- 
" per 'natural dealings with men, that we can observe ; 
" and does not now impart the special influence of his 
" Spirit to a few individuals and at particular times, as 
"is claimed by modern revivalists. That this doctrine 
u of revivalists, lies at the foundation of religious fana* 
" ticism — is not essential to Christian faith or conduct, 
" and if enforced by preachers and believed by the 
" people, some form of this fanaticism will always dis- 
" turb the church and the world. 

"Fourthly. That numerous meetings for religious 
u purposes, night meetings, camp meetings, protracted 
"meetings, &c, injure the health — cause insanity, and 
"other diseases, and ought to be abandoned as unscrip- 
" tural, and very unreasonable in this age, when infor- 
"mation on all subjects can be obtained by reading. 
"That they produce and perpetuate great excitement 
" that is particularly dangerous to females, to mothers, 
" and the rising generation. 

" Fifthly. The Sabbath is a day of rest for man and 
" beast, and ought to be so regarded in practice. 

" Sixthly. That religious worship and the cultivation 
" of devotional feelings are beneficial to man, when not 
"carried to an unreasonable extent."* 



* As a celebrated philosopher observed, " La devotion, est un opium pour 
Tame, elle egare, anime, soutient quand on en prend peu : une trop fort dps© 
endort, ou rend furieux, ou tue." 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 169 

In reply to his first proposition, we think we 
have shown, that whatever may be affirmed of 
the phrenological " religious sentiment," religion 
is not " innate in man," and that so far from being 
so, it is an effect of Divine influence, superindu- 
ced in man by the agency of the Holy Ghost. 
This, therefore, never " acts blindly and to the in- 
jury of man;" and so far from " needing the 
guidance of reason and knowledge," as the author 
contends, true religion is itself the guide of both 
reason and knowledge. 

To his second opinion, we reply, that " baptism 
and the Lord's Supper," though ceremonies, as the 
Scriptures prove, " established by Christ," and 
"rites, the observance of which he enjoined," are 
not the only " ceremonies and rites" which ha\e 
the same authority. Public and private prayer, 
watching, fasting, reading the Scriptures, atten- 
dance upon the public and private ordinances of 
religion, alms-giving, preaching, " sermon hear- 
ing," and even ''protracted meetings,"* are all 
rites and ceremonies, the observance of which 
were enjoined by Christ and his Apostles, both 
by precept and example. It is not true, there- 
fore, that Luther abolished any of the ceremonies 
of Christianity which are properly such ; but he 
restored those exclusively which Christ had estab- 



* Witness the sermon on the mount, and the preaching of 
Paul from morning till evening, &c. 

15 



170 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM- 

lished. These have never been " fruitful sources 
of discord," and though their relinquishment is 
insisted on by the author, it is only because of the 
delusion and infatuation under which he has had 
the temerity to hazard the assertion, in the face of 
the Bible, that " Christ established no ceremonies 
at all!" 

In relation to his third position, we maintain 
that the Christian dispensation, like the Mosaic, 
is strictly and essentially miraculous in its origin, 
nature, evidences, privileges, and effects. Was 
not the incarnation of the Son of God, with all 
the phenomena which accompanied, preceded, 
and followed that stupendous event, truly " mi- 
raculous ?" And is there nothing " miraculous" 
in the events recorded by the Evangelists and 
Apostles, as w 7 ell as in the gift and preservation of 
the volume of inspiration ? And are not the pro- 
mises of the gospel, as fulfilled and fulfilling in 
these latter days, demonstrably "miraculous?" 
How, then, does the author presume to say that 
"mankind are not at present under any miracu- 
lous dispensation ?" He can only do so, either by 
denying that they are at present under the Chris- 
tian dispensation, or by maintaining that this is 
not " miraculous;" and he is welcome to either 
horn of the dilemma. 

But he goes still farther, and asserts that " God 
has no supernatural dealings with men, that we can 
observe!" thus denying at one fell swoop the im- 
portant and scriptural doctrine of Divine Provi- 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 171 

dence, as well as that of grace. Are not the 
" dealings" of the Providence of God, as observ- 
ed in the history of nations and individuals, evi- 
dently " supernattiral?" If they are not, then is 
the world governed by chance, and if there be a 
God at all, or if the world had a Creator, as the 
Father of all, he must have cast off the universe 
he has made into an eternal orphanage, and the 
millions of our race are without a Father, even in 
heaven. Thus it is apparent, that if the author 
was professedly a Christian when he expressed 
this sentiment, his transition to the dark and 
cheerless gulf of atheism, is not merely natural 
and easy, but absolutely inevitable. 

Again, he proceeds to affirm, in the same style 
of dogmatism, that " God does not now, impart 
the special influence of his Spirit to a few indi- 
viduals, and at particular times, as is claimed by 
modern revivalists." By the introduction of the 
word now, he avoids the denial of the scriptural 
narrative as to the events there related, and seem- 
ingly admits thatfor?nerly the Spirit was given, as 
claimed. But he overlooks the fact, that he does 
as effectually contradict the Bible, by denying 
the fulfilment of its prophecies and promises, in 
these latter days. Either the Spirit of God influ- 
ences the hearts of men now, or it does not. If 
it does not, the Bible is a "cunningly devised fa- 
ble," and if it does, then if it influences any indi- 
viduals, it must be " special ;" nay, it must be im- 
parted to some " particular individuals, and at 



172 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

particular times' 5 if ever, unless indeed, he con- 
tends that the impartation of the Spirit is univer- 
sally the same upon all men, in its nature, extent, 
and fruits. This he would scarcely venture to 
affirm ; and if he did, a single glance at the con- 
dition of the world, as shown in his own book, 
would convict him of egregious folly. We need 
hardly remind the reader of the positive assu- 
rances given by Christ to his disciples, of " the 
gift of the Holy Spirit," and that He would " send 
the Comforter," who would abide with His church 
forever. Nor is it necessary to dwell upon the ex- 
plicit language of the Savior, in explaining to 
Nicodemus this " special influence" in regenera- 
tion. " The wind bloweth where it listeth, thou 
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence 
it cometh nor whither it goeth — so is every one 
that is born of the Spirit." Here we are distinct- 
ly taught that " the special influence of the Spirit" 
is " imparted to particular persons, and at par- 
ticular times, as claimed by modern revivalists;" 
unless the doctrine of the new birth is to be re- 
jected as superannuate, and the author would have 
us believe that this too is obsolete. But this sin- 
gle text demonstrates that men are at present 
under a " miraculous dispensation ;" that " God 
has supernatural dealings with men," and that 
" the special influence claimed is imparted." In 
maintaining, as the author does, that this latter 
doctrine " lies at the foundation of religious fanati- 
cism," he charges upon the word of God, the eu* 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 173 

tire book of Revelation, the origination of fanati- 
cism. And in deciding as he does, that it " is not 
essential to Christian faith or conduct," he pro- 
claims himself wiser than the Bible or the God of 
the Bible! A lamentable confirmation of the 
inspired truth, that " the natural man receiveth 
not the things of the Spirit of God, because they 
are foolishness to him, neither can he know them!" 

We now pass to the fourth proposition of this 
summary; and, in reply, we think it has been 
shown, that the author utterly fails in his labored 
effort at proof, and furnishes no shadow of evi- 
dence that the numerous meetings for religious 
purposes, of which he complains, injure the 
health, and much less has he been able to prove that 
they " cause insanity and other diseases." That 
they are either " unscriptural" or "unreasonable 
in this age," we trust has been satisfactorily dis- 
proved. And indeed, every portion of this posi- 
tion has been so fully considered in another place, 
that we forbear to enlarge. 

His fifth opinion, in relation to the Sabbath, is 
aimed at all religious assemblies, and is designed 
to oppose all " church going," " sermon hearing 
or reading," as a disregard of this day of rest. 
But while he thinks it ought to be regarded as 
such both by man and beast, yet he denies that it 
was divinely instituted as a day of rest, much less 
for religious observances. Indeed, he has no ob- 
jection to the violation of this rest both by man 

15* 



174 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

and beast, if the riding is for recreation and " visit- 
ing friends," instead of " church going." The 
reader will find this subject sufficiently noticed in 
its appropriate place. 

The sixth and last proposition is the most 
extraordinary exhibition of inconsistency, and 
though designed as a saving clause, yet in the 
connection in which it is found, is superlatively 
stupid. After objecting to all religious rites and 
ceremonies of whatsoever kind, as " unscriptural 
and unreasonable in this age," and indulging in a 
satirical strain of ridicule in relation to every form 
of devotion, he here admits, that " religious wor- 
ship and the cultivation of devotional feelings are 
beneficial to men, when not carried to an unreason- 
able extent" What kind of "religious worship* 
could be performed without "ceremonies of any 
kind" or of what use such worship, and the " cul- 
tivation of devotional feelings," could be, when 
" God has no supernatural dealings with men," 
the author does not condescend to enlighten us, 
though he obviously means by their being bene- 
ficial, that they would be healthy, in the way of 
exercise to the body. Hence his caution that this 
exercise be " not carried to an unreasonable ex- 
tent," so as to induce fatigue, or " produce excite- 
ment," or in the least to " agitate the body." 
When these effects are produced, then worship 
and devotional feelings become unreasonable. 
The note which he appends, from " a celebrated 



REVIEW OF DR. BRI&HAM. 175 

philosopher," and which he leaves untranslated, 
may be thus rendered : 

" Devotion is an opiate to the soul ; it excites, 
animates, and sustains, when taken in small quan- 
tities ; but too strong a dose produces stupor, mad- 
ness, or death !" 

This quotation is introduced in illustration of 
the sentiment of the author, as expressed in his 
sixth and last proposition. It is obviously equiv- 
alent to the declaration that the influence of reli- 
gion is purely and exclusively physical, analogous 
to that of opium or any other similar narcotic, 
precisely as set forth in the argument to which 
allusion has been made, in relation to the resem- 
blance between the effects of religious excitement 
upon the brain, and those of alcohol upon the 
stomach. And that this is unsophisticated materi- 
alism and infidelity, will not admit of denial or 
doubt. It represents religion, or what he regards 
as synonymous, the religious sentiment, to be 
" implanted in man by his Creator," and when 
taken " in small quantities" to be healthy, since it 
only " excites, animates, and sustains ;" but if 
used in " too strong a dose," like opium, it is not 
only unwholesome, but ''produces stupor, mad- 
ness, and death." He forgets, however, to fur- 
nish any criterion, by which we may decide what 
is the proper "dose," or degree of excitement 
which is salutary and safe, unless by the expres- 
sion, " when not carried to an unreasonable ex- 



176 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM* 

tent," which is a most ambiguous and uncertain 
direction truly, and one utterly unintelligible. 

But if we would examine his analogy philo- 
sophically, we must remember that the effect of 
opium when it excites, and which effect is repre- 
sented to be rational and healthy, is not only un- 
natural and artificial, but is essentially morbid, 
because produced by a poisonous agent, and this 
is true of any quantity, however small, provided 
it be sufficient to " excite, animate, and sustain." 
And when too strong a dose be used, it does in- 
deed "produce stupor, madness, and death," 
because it is a poison, unnatural, morbific, and 
fatal in its nature and effects. And yet, religion 
is here represented to be u opium for the soul," an 
unnatural poison, which may be used in small 
quantities, with no other ill effects than " excite- 
ment," which, on the subject of religion, is repre- 
sented to be exceedingly dangerous ; for when 
taken in too strong a dose, it results in " stupor, 
madness, and death." Surely those who entertain 
this doctrine for a moment, will perceive that in- 
stead of a caution against indulging in this moral 
opium " to an unreasonable extent," the dictate 
of wisdom will obviously be to " flee from" reli- 
gion, " as from the face of a serpent," and 
" neither touch, taste nor handle the accursed 
thing." 

Soberly, if the author has fully adopted this 
creed, he ought not to content himself with writing 
this book, for humanity and philanthropy should 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 177 

constrain him to a mightier effort for the reforma- 
tion and salvation of his fellow beings. He should 
forthwith institute an American and Foreign An- 
ti-religion Society, and by multiplying branches 
of it all over the world, he should rival the great 
Temperance enterprize, in zeal and exertions. 
Let him organize the society under a pledge of 
" total abstinence" from all religion, as the only 
moral engine sufficiently potent to preserve the 
human race from utter extermination. If it were 
not presumptive to dictate to so great and puissant 
a reformer, we would recommend a pledge some- 
what like the following : 

Whereas, " devotion is opium for the soul," and 
11 religion is one of the most fruitful sources of in- 
sanity, convulsions, and death ;" and whereas, 
" God has no supernatural dealings with men," 
and " Christ established no ceremonies at all;" 
and whereas, " numerous meetings for religious 
purposes are unscriptural and very unreasonable 
in this age," because they " produce excitement 
most dangerous to health and life, especially to 
females, to mothers and the rising generation ;" 
and whereas, the Sabbath is a day of rest for 
man and beast ; and the ringing of church bells 
on that day, is injurious to health and life : 

We, the undersigned, hereby pledge ourselves 
that we will wholly abstain from all religion, inclu- 
ding among the fruits of this moral " opium" all' 



178 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

"church goings psalm singi?ig, sermon hearing or 
reading, protracted meetings, night meetings, sunrise 
prayer meetings, camp meetings, baptism, the Lord's 
Supper, ringing of bells, forms, rites or ceremonies" 
which are " for religious purposes;" and believ- 
ing that the dangers of " carrying devotion to an 
unreasonable extent," and taking " too strong a 
dose," can never be avoided, until religion and all 
its means of " excitement are abandoned," we 
will use our influence to inculcate " total absti- 
nence" from it among the community. 

Such appears to us to be an outline of the mea- 
sures which Dr. Brigham is imperiously called 
upon to adopt, on the presumption that the doc- 
trines he here teaches, are entitled to his own be- 
lief and confidence. Surely if a moiety of the 
spectres he has conjured up, wherewith to portray 
the dire calamities, with which religion is peren- 
nially cursing our race, have any existence other 
than in his morbidly vivid imagination, he should 
forthwith proclaim a war of extermination against 
this giant evil, and labor without weariness, and 
without rest, for its immediate, instant abolition. 
Nor need he " compass sea and land to make pro- 
selytes ;" for he will find them ready made to his 
hand, wherever the " carnal mind, which is enmi- 
ty against God" is discoverable, there will his 
pledge be adopted by acclamation. " Wide is 
the gate and broad is the way, and many there be 
which go in thereat." " A great multitude which 



REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 179 

no man can number," in every nation, kindred, 
people, and tongue ; in every city, town, village, 
and settlement in this and every other country, 
will spontaneously marshal themselves under his 
banner, and his society will be the most numerous 
under heaven. In the membership of this Anti- 
religion Society, he may calculate, in anticipa- 
tion, on the great army of infidels of every grade, 
and all the profligate and abandoned, the profane 
and the ungodly, the blaspheming and the drun- 
ken ; for all these will be ex-officio entitled to 
recognition, since they already practise on the 
principle of total abstinence from all religion, and 
will not need to sign the pledge, since their pre- 
tensions will not be questioned, nor is there any 
danger of their being suspected of its violation. 
But, alas ! he will find ready access for books and 
newspapers and agents of this anti-religious cru- 
sade, among the sons and daughters of folly and 
fashion, the worldly and the formalists, the mo- 
ralists and the hypocrites, and all who are forget- 
ting God, and neglecting their souls; who restrain 
prayer, and delay repentance ; and who seek and 
need just such arguments as he urges, to quiet 
conscience, and arm them against the truth. And 
the rising generation, whose licentious passions 
cannot brook restraint, multitudes of whom desire 
deliverance from the bonds, which religious edu- 
cation has imposed, that they may " throw the 



180 REVIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 

reins upon the neck of headlong appetite," will 
find an asylum in the Anti- religion society which 
they have heretofore sought in vain, 

But we forbear to dwell upon the deplorable 
moral influence, which the sentiments under no- 
tice, are calculated to exert upon individuals, and 
upon the community. And it is with the hum- 
ble hope of contributing in some measure to coun- 
teract their pernicious and mischievous tendency, 
that these strictures have been prepared for pub- 
lication. It is true that the author has expressed 
his confidence that all the "intelligent" members 
of the medical profession, will approve of the 
medical doctrines he has advanced ; and the fact 
that we gainsay them, and attempt to prove that 
they are fallacious and unphilosophical, will in- 
volve in his estimation the forfeiture of our claim 
to be ranked among " intelligent" men; yet, at the 
expense of being denounced in the elegant language 
selected by himself, as " muddle pated, narrow 
minded, bigoted, enthusiastic, and perhaps h} r po- 
critical ;" and at the risk of being written down 
among "the psalm singers of the profession," 
who " if sincere are fools, and if not so rogues," 
we have ventured upon this feeble effort to expose 
error, and to vindicate truth, especially as the 
subject is one which involves the immortal hopes 
and everlasting destinies of men. And firmly 
believing as we do, that the religion of Christ is a 
Divine reality, however unworthy to bear His 



HE VIEW OF DR. BRIGHAM. 181 

name, we are not ashamed to confess our faith in 
the " special influence of the Holy Spirit," with 
as much confidence as in a " special Providence," 
both of which doctrines we hold on the testimony 
of inspiration. With such belief, whether true or 
false, the Divine guidance has been sought, and 
the Divine blessing is now implored upon the 
present publication ; and though Dr. Brigham's 
creed may constrain him to despise us therefor, 
yet for none is that blessing sought more devoutly 
than for him, that he may be " converted from the 
error of his way," by the agency of that Holy 
Spirit, whom he contemns, and whose " special 
influence" he denies. That truth may be promo- 
ted, and the cause of religion advanced, is of in- 
finitely more importance than the decision of the 
question of the comparative qualifications of the 
disputants. This reply, therefore, is issued from 
the press, without any overweening anxiety as to 
the fate of the author among the critics of the day. 
If it shall be useful to the souls and bodies of 
men, and in any measure prevent the disastrous 
results which flow from infidelity and irreligion, 
he will deem self an insignificant sacrifice in a 
cause so exalted. 



16 



APPENDIX 



In the vindication of religion from the allegations of 
Dr. Brigham, which is attempted in the preceding 
pages, and which indeed is the leading design of the 
present review, the author has taken occasion to show 
that the infidel and irreligious tendencies of the senti- 
ments upon which he has animadverted, are the legiti- 
mate fruits of Phrenology. But those of the sect, who 
retain their respect for the " science, falsely so called," 
and at the same time adhere to their faith in evangeli- 
cal religion, will deny the conclusion to which we have 
labored to bring the reader, and maintain that we have 
only proved that infidels are attempting to make the 
system tributary to their unhallowed purposes. Such 
we know has been uniformly the employment of sceptics 
in every age, and no sooner has any new discovery in 
science, or new system of philosophy been announced, 
than they at once aim to bring it into their service ; 
and profess, however absurdly, to derive valuable con- 
tributions to their cause, from every improvement in 
physics, which the genius or industry of man is deve- 
loping. But, however plausibly this opinion may be 
urged, by those who agree with the strictures of the 
present volume, so far as to unite in reprobating the in- 
fidel and irreligious tendencies of the work under notice^ 
and yet allege these to be perversions of phrenology. 



184 APPENDIX, 

rather than exhibitions of its nature and tendency ; we 
must still maintain the opinions we have expressed, 
and for their proof, we have thought proper to add the 
present brief appendix, the design of which is to ac- 
quaint the reader with the true character of the 
".science, " that he may form his own estimate of the 
moral tendencies which we have ascribed to it. 

Phrenology, as the system is now designated, has 
been modernized,* and introduced formally to public 
attention, chiefly through the labors of Dr. Gall, and 
w T as called by him cranioscopy, craniology, organology^ 
cranognomony and cephalology ; though the term phre- 
nology is now generally adopted by the unanimous con- 
sent of his disciples. He designs by the term cranios- 
copy or phrenology, to designate a new system of 
mental philosophy, including the functions of the brain, 
as well as all the faculties, propensities, and sentiments : 
and one which shall be alike applicable to man and all 
other animals, and he builds his whole fabric on the fol- 
lowing four " primordial ideas," viz. 

1st. " All the instincts, propensities, intellectual fa- 
culties, and moral qualities of man and animals, are 
innate" 

2nd. " That the exercise or use of all these, what- 
ever may be the principle from which they are derived, 
is subject to the influence of material and organic con- 
ditions." 



* I say modernized, for an analogous system was propagated 
centuries before him, and busts, with the supposed seats of the 
various faculties marked, were engraved and published. The 
gross materialism of the theory, however, very soon consigned 
it to oblivion. 



APPENDIX. 185 

3rd. " That the brain is the organ of all our instincts, 
propensities, sentiments, aptitudes, intellectual faculties, 
and moral qualities " 

4th. "That each of our instincts, propensities, sen- 
timents, talents, intellectual and moral faculties, has a 
portion of the brain, which is specially appropriated to 
it ; a determinate seat, and that the developement of these 
different parts, which form so many small brains, or par- 
ticular organs, is manifested on the external surface of 
the cranium, by visible and palpable signs or protube- 
rances, so that by the examination of these protuberances 
or cranioscopic elevations, the dispositions, and intellec- 
tual and moral qualities, peculiar to every individual, 
may be ascertained." 

In these four "primordial ideas," the reader has a 
sketch of the fundamental principles upon which Dr. 
Gall founded his system, and in the progress of the 
science to the present day, they have not been essential- 
ly modified. The arguments by which his disciples 
have labored to render these principles plausible are 
various, and drawn from anatomy, physiology, and meta- 
physics. The intricate and complicated structure of 
the brain, and particularly its elaborate and mysterious 
convolutions, are regarded as proofs that so beautiful 
and inexplicable an organization, renders it both ra- 
tional and probable, that its different parts must be des- 
tined for special and determinate functions. And if we 
refer the whole of the impressions made upon the mind, 
through the medium of the nerves to any central or 
given point of the brain, it is alleged that we can con- 
ceive no possible use for the remaining parts of that 

organ. The partial loss of the mental faculties, which 

16* 



186 APPENDIX. 

sometimes occurs, from disease or injury of the brain, 
is maintained to favor the doctrine that these faculties 
are distributed over different parts of that organ. While 
the fact, that the various nerves connected with the or- 
gans of sense, perform essentially different offices, is 
urged as an analogical argument in proof, that the dif- 
ferent convolutions of the brain are the organs of the 
respective mental functions. And again, it is main- 
tained, that the perfection of the brain corresponds to 
the state of the mental faculties in the different periods 
of life ; and a necessary connexion must be supposed 
between these circumstances. While the difference in 
the form and size of the brain and its respective parts* 
which is so obvious in different individuals and animals, 
renders it plausible to suppose this to be the cause of the 
differences which exist in the faculties. And it is still 
further urged, that when the exercise of the mental 
powers is attended with fatigue, this sensation is only 
felt in a particular spot, which implies that the faculty 
which has been exercised is confined to that particular 
portion of the brain. And the innate nature of all the 
dispositions and mental faculties, which is presupposed 
by the system, it is argued, proves that they must be 
attached to different organs, unless we deny that they 
exist in different proportions in different individuals. 

Such are the principal arguments by which modern 
phrenologists labor to sustain their favorite theory ; and 
with these, as well as the " primordial ideas" of Dr. 
Gall before the reader, he may form an accurate con- 
ception of the system, and be able to understand the 
authorities for the " map of regions," which has been 
laid down on the surface of the head, by which the va- 
rious faculties and propensities are located. This may 



APPENDIX. 187 

be seen in the various busts and drawings, which are 
sufficiently numerous in every part of the country, and 
which are potent in making uninitiated rustics stare and 
wonder at the mysteries of the philosophy of their own 
brains. 

The reader will perceive that Phrenology is only an 
extension of the science of Physiognomy, though pos- 
sessing infinitely less philosophy and truth. For while 
Lavater interpreted the expression and form of the 
countenance, as indicative of the mental constitution and 
character, yet he relied upon the visible and tangible 
action of the muscles of the face, which, to a great ex- 
tent, are acknowledged to be under the influence of 
volition and habit. But Dr. Gall relies upon the invisi- 
ble and intangible action, which he gratuitously sup- 
poses the brain to perform, and which, if it really 
existed, must necessarily be unappreciable, because of 
the solidity and thickness of the bones of the cranium, 
after the age of puberty, although he and his disciples 
contend for the validity of their maps of developments, 
during every period of life, even to advanced age. And 
the important circumstance, so often mentioned, that the 
departments of the brain, which Phrenology designates 
with so much accuracy and minuteness, neither agree 
with the natural divisions of the brain, which are so re- 
markable, nor with the metaphysical classification of 
the mental phenomena, has neither been gainsayed nor 
refuted. 

It is not our purpose to analyze the principles of 
the science, or examine the arguments by which its pro- 
fessors aim to support it with any minuteness, as this 
would be foreign from the design of this appendix; nor 
is it at all desirable or necessary, as will presently aj% 



188 APPENDIX. 

pear. For even, on the admission of the whole of the 
" primordial ideas" we have named, though the third in 
the order they stand, is the only one which has any 
share of plausibility or truth, still it would be easy to 
show that the artificial division and appropriation of the 
functions, to distinct localities, as taught by Phrenology, 
is wholly arbitrary and fictitious. This will be obvious, 
when the reader is informed that the first grand disco- 
very of Dr. Gall, and which has led to the whole of 
the numbers and localities which the maps of the re- 
gions exhibit, as subsequently laid down by himself and 
others, was made under the following circumstances. 
He observed, while yet at school, that all his fellows 
who were distinguished at the public examinations, were 
indebted for their success to an extraordinary memory, 
and that they all had very 'prominent eyes. This re- 
markable coincidence, led him irresistibly to the con- 
clusion, that there must be some mysterious connection 
between a good memory and a protrusion of the eye-balls 
from the socket, such as that for which some persons 
are so remarkable. And, on this momentous thought 
having taken possession of his brain, at once he leaped 
to the still farther conclusion, that every other faculty 
must be connected with other external conformations. 

But for this accidental discovery of the organ of 
memory, being located in the eyes, and its perfection be- 
ino- developed by their size and 'prominence, the world 
might have yet been in the dark whether we had any 
iC organs," nor shouid we be possessed of a map of our 
own brains, which is now, thanks to Dr. Gall, the privi- 
lege of every man and woman in Christendom. 

But while Dr. Gall located this organ of memory in 
the eyes, his pupil, Dr. Spurzheim, denominates it "the 



APPENDIX. 189 

organ of language," by which term he means to convey 
the idea, that " prominent eyes" indicate not only phi- 
lological memory, but an aptitude for the study of lan- 
guages. All phrenologists agree in attributing the 
faculty of speech, and the power of articulating sounds 
to the eyes, and great skill in the use of language to their 
prominence. And Dr. Gall used to exhibit in proof of 
this ridiculous conceit, the cranium of a lunatic who 
was unable to articulate words, in which the roofs of 
the orbits were arched, and this organ small, or, in other 
words, the eyes were not prominent. 

As this faculty is avowedly the origin of all the dis- 
coveries made by Gall, and the cause of all his 
researches, as well as the foundation of the whole 
science of Phrenology, the reader who will acquaint 
himself with the anatomy of the eye, and the causes of 
its prominence, may readily satisfy himself that this 
" corner stone" of the entire edifice is a mere fiction and 
fable. Nor can he persuade himself to believe that the 
structure and relative position of the human eye, while it 
is so admirably adapted by the Creator for the purposes 
of vision, is at the same time designed to impart the 
faculty of speech, and the articulation of sounds, for 
which it has no degree of adaptation, while locally dis- 
connected with those organs, whose elaborate structure 
indicates their design and use for this important and 
essentially different function. And yet all the phrenolo- 
gical authorities will be found to inculcate the doctrine, 
that " large and prominent eyes" indicate the develop- 
ment of " the organ of memory and language," though 
Spurzheim is so very particular as to inform us that for 
the perfection of this organ we are to look, not merely 
for "large and prominent eyes, but at the same time, 



190 APPENDIX. 

pressed, as it were ! towards the lower part of the orbit," 
a coincidence which will be found in practice to be as 
scarce as instances of white crows. This appendage of 
Spurzheim, appears to have been designed to meet the 
objections to the science which were constantly multi- 
plying upon the hands of practitioners in this art and 
mystery, who found thousands of examples, in which 
" large and prominent eyes," were connected with a 
deficiency both iu " memory and language." He, there- 
fore, adds to the description of the organ that the " large 
and prominent eyes must, at the same time, be pressed 
towards the lower part of the orbit," and the convenient 
words- " as it ivere" are parenthetically introduced for 
wise and obvious purposes. With such an equivocal 
definition of signs, a common fortune teller would rival 
the most acute phrenologist in developing character. 
And, we need hardly add, that as the ' c science" is as 
applicable to all other animals as man, that no human 
example of the perfect development of " the organ of 
languages and memory" can be produced, which will 
at all compare with the claims possessed by an Owl. 

We have dwelt a moment on this first discovery of 
Dr. Gall, because it was the origin and cause of all his 
researches, the primum mobile of the whole machinery 
Of the system. Arid as this philosopher was impelled 
by so pure a fiction, to proceed in the location of the 
faculties and propensities in the various parts of the 
brain, it is not to be wondered at, that the divisions which 
he and his followers have successively discovered, mark- 
ed, and numbered upon their maps and casts, should, 
like the first, be wholly arbitrary; nor will it be found, 
that any one of them possesses any greater claim to our 
confidence, either drawn from philosophy or facts, 



APPENDIX. 191 

though of the latter they are ever proclaiming them- 
selves the discoverers and inventors, and upon these 
alone they profess to rely. 

Another specimen of the facts, upon which Phre- 
nology has authoritatively located the " organs" of the 
human mind, and an exhibition of the slender basis on 
which these localities rest, may be seen in the " love of 
offspring," which Spurzheim calls the propensity of 
" philojwogenitiveness, and which both he and his illus- 
trious master, place in the posterior and inferior part of 
the head, and when much developed forming a large 
prominence above the centre of the neck. 

The reader must preserve his gravity, while the his- 
tory of this " discovery" is thus accurately developed 
by a distinguished phrenologist. " Dr. Gall had long 
known that the back part of the head was more promi- 
nent In females, children, and monkeys, than in men, but 
was utterly unable to account for this wondrous fact, 
even after he had long believed and taught the science. 
At last, however, a. clergyman who attended his lectures, 
led him to the true solution of this problem, which had 
so long puzzled his brains, by reminding him that the 
' love of offspring' was remarkable in women ! and 
female monkeys /" This striking collocation and astoni- 
shing coincidence, conclusively established the organ 
of "philoprogenitiveness," as it is now called ; and it 
has since received conclusive confirmation by another 
prodigious fact, discovered by the lamented Spurzheim, 
that it is this organ which induces young girls to play 
with dolls ! 

Such are a few examples of the facts upon which 
every " faculty, propensity, and sentiment" of man and 
all other animals, have been laid down in maps of the 



192 APPENDIX. 

brain, with more than mathematical precision ; and they 
and their definite localities are now learnedly spoken of 
with magisterial authority. But we forbear to enlarge 
on these several topics, and shall confine our observa- 
tions to a few of those which present the science in its 
moral aspect, and, as we think, demonstrate its infidel 
tendencies. And the first of these we would present, 
is the "organ of moral sense" or "benevolence;" for 
these dispositions, according to the system, are owing to 
the " developement" on the " superior, anterior part of 
the head, just above the forehead." From the univer- 
sal presence of this " organ," phrenologists maintain 
that " man is naturally good" and that " the question so 
often agitated among philosophers, whether man is born 
with a disposition to good or evil,"* has been settled de- 
finitely by the " science." It is scarcely necessary to 
say, that the authority of revelation is here utterly re- 
jected, and the multiplied testimonies of the Bible 
denied ; nor need we add, that the history of every 
nation under heaven, demonstrates the fallacy of the 
position, and of the system which inculcates it. 

Immediately in a neighboring locality, on the upper 
part of the head, is the " organ of marvellousness," or 
" the love of supernatural objects" while near the crown of 
the head is the " organ of theosophy," which Spurzheim 
divides into three "organs," viz. " veneration" "con- 
scientiousness," and " hope" Upon these several organs 
depend, according to the system, the dispositions to see 
and believe in visions, ghosts, witches, and supernatural 
revelations, together with all belief in the existence of a 
God, all idea of a Supreme Being, all propensity to- 
wards worship, devotion, piety, love of God, idolatry, &c. 
&c. And it can scarcely be necessary to remark, that 



APPENDIX. 193 

this single fact — that all these dissimilar and even oppo- 
site sentiments, in which good and evil, virtue and vice, 
reality and delusion, truth and falsehood, are mingled 
in heterogeneous combination, and yet all ascribed to 
the same "organs" and "developments" — is enough to 
brand the system which recognizes such absurdity, not 
merely with infidel character and tendency, but with 
profound stupidity and folly. And to exhibit the immo- 
rality of such a vile imposture upon public credulity, if it 
were at all needful, would be easy, by simply repeating 
the opinions of Gall and Spurzheim, in their arguments 
in favor of the validity of their designation of these 
organs. Alluding to those who believe in ghosts, vi- 
sions, and witches, and indeed in any supernatural reve- 
lations, they tell us, that " this disposition which loves 
what is astonishing, mysterious, or miraculous, is the 
immediate result of a particular organization; and it 
would be as unjust to accuse those endowed with it, of 
imposture, as it would be to censure poets for embody- 
ing and personifying their ideas, for they are only the 
slaves of a too energetic action of one part of the hrain" 
If this be not sublimated impiety, materialism, and fa- 
talism, we know not where these characteristics are to 
be found ; and that such sentiments annihilate all moral 
distinctions between truth and falsehood, vice and vir- 
tue, is too obvious to need comment. And yet, they go 
on to tell us, that in the creation of the organ of marvel- 
lousness, nature had views and intentions, which serve 
to strengthen our faith and fortify our belief, and thus 
nature, not the " God of nature," is represented to be 
the "author of faith." 

But, in relation to the " organ of theosophy," or 

veneration," these phrenologists more distinctly disclose 

17 



194 APPENDIX. 

their gross and unmingled atheism. Here we are 
taught that " some persons, for want of this organ, have 
no capacity for religious instruction, while others, who 
possess the organ, receive it with the greatest eager- 
ness ;" and surely if there be those who have " no ca- 
pacity" for religion, because of their "physical organi- 
zation," their accountability is annihilated, and those 
who are religious, because of a different organization, 
are equally victims of uncontrollable destiny, nor can 
virtue or vice be predicated in either case. Indeed, jail 
this and mora, is unblushingly avowed ; for they affirm 
that " our idaas on ail subjects depend on our being fur- 
nished with organs to originate, or to give birth to them, 
and we have an idea of God, as we have love of off- 
spring, benevolence, &e., because we have an organ 
fitted for such a purpose." And still they maintain that 
man wherever he is found has the " organ of theosophy," 
and hence a " sentiment of the existence of the Divini- 
ty is innate, and inherent in our nature." And yet they 
add, that there is a great difference between this senti- 
ment and the revelations, dogmas, mysteries, &c, of 
different religious sects. And it is obvious, that the 
revelations of Christianity, and of the Bible, are here 
aimed at as among the religious sects, whose dogmas 
and mysteries Phrenology disclaims. This disclaimer 
might have been spared, however, since there is a mu- 
tual and irrepressible repulsion, which must eternally 
separate Phrenology from Christianity ; and, we think, 
sufficient evidence is now before the reader, that from 
the nature of this science, falsely so called, its votaries 
must not only believe ours to be literally " a world with, 
out souls" but equally " without God." 

The source whence Dr. Brigham derived the philo- 



APPENDIX. 195 

sophy and creed, under the malign influence of which 
Ins book was written, is now plainly before the reader, 
as well as the proof of our allegations, that the evil 
genius of Phrenology, like a mighty incubus, sits en- 
throned upon his soul. 



Library of Congress 
Branch Bindery, 1903 



